The Israeli president considered it a “threat to the foundations of democracy.” Demonstrations continued to protest against judicial reform

The ruling coalition, made up of right-wing and far-right parties, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is preparing to speed up the legislative process, starting Sunday, the first day of the week in Israel, to advance the reform project, which its critics consider undemocratic.

As was the case on previous Saturdays, the main rally took place in the center of Tel Aviv, with more than 100,000 people participating, according to media estimates, and other demonstrations were also held in major cities.

According to Israeli media estimates, the number of demonstrators on Saturday reached unprecedented levels in the cities of Haifa (north) and Beersheba (south), where 50,000 and 10,000 people demonstrated, respectively, which are significant numbers in a country with a population of nearly nine million.

Knesset Law Committee Chairman Simcha Rothman has scheduled daily sessions on the judicial reform bill from Sunday to Wednesday.

The decision appears to implicitly reject calls to slow down or suspend consideration of the bill in the Knesset to allow settlement negotiations, and choose to strictly adhere to the timetable he announced with Justice Minister Yariv Levin.

The timetable provides for the adoption of the main elements of the reform before the end of the winter session of the Knesset on the second of April.

This reform would greatly limit the possibility of the Supreme Court overturning laws and give the ruling coalition the power to appoint judges.

On Thursday evening, Israeli President Isaac Herzog called for halting the process of approving the draft law on judicial reform, describing it as a “threat to the foundations of democracy.”