Israel

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Tens of thousands of Israelis protested on Saturday against a controversial plan to revamp the country’s legal system, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s suspension of the changes earlier in the week.

The protesters gathered in Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial hub on the Mediterranean, for the 13th weekly demonstration, raising Israeli flags and banners against what they said were plans to weaken the Supreme Court. Several smaller rallies took place in other towns and cities.

01 Apr 2023; MEMO: Israeli Defence Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has praised Baruch Goldstein, the settler who massacred 29 Palestinian worshippers and wounded more than 100 others at Al-Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron in 1994, Safa News Agency reported on Friday.

01 Apr 2023; MEMO: Several recent polls conducted by Israeli mass media have shown the confidence of Israelis in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been waning, The Times of Israel reported on Friday.

JERUSALEM, April 1 (Reuters) - Protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul showed no sign of abating on Saturday, despite its suspension by the embattled premier this week, as tens of thousands took to the streets to demand it be scrapped entirely.

Beset by the domestic upheaval and expressions of concern and disapproval in Washington, Netanyahu on Monday paused the overhaul to allow negotiations on a compromise between his religious-nationalist coalition and opposition parties.

JERUSALEM, April 1 (Reuters) - A man detained by Israeli police near a flashpoint holy site in Jerusalem grabbed an officer's gun and fired it, prompting the unit to shoot him dead, the force said on Saturday, an account doubted by Arab leaders and probed by authorities.

In a separate incident, the Israeli military said an assailant had rammed his vehicle into a group of people, wounding three, near the Palestinian town Beit Ummar in the occupied West Bank. Soldiers opened fire and "neutralized" the suspect, it said.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police shot and killed a man who they alleged tried to snatch an officer’s gun at an entrance to a Jerusalem holy site early Saturday, raising fears of further violence during a time of heightened tensions at the flashpoint compound.

31 Mar 2023; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded an apology from dismissed Defence Minister Yoav Gallant following the statements he made against the judicial overhaul plan proposed by the premier.

Thousands of extremist Israelis yesterday came out in support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan, blocking a highway in Tel Aviv.

The protests were organised by Netanyahu's Likud Party and the far-right, extra-parliamentary group Im Tirtzu; which a Jerusalem judge found in 2013 draws influence from fascist ideology.

31 Mar 2023; MEMO: The head of the Israeli Liaison Office in Morocco, David Govrin, will reportedly return to Rabat in the coming days to resume his duties, after being recalled last year over allegations of sexual harassment, Israeli media reported.

30 Mar 2023; MEMO: The Israeli Law Professors' Forum for Democracy has found that changes introduced by the current government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "validate the claim that Israel practices apartheid."