Tens of thousands of Israelis once again took to the streets on Saturday to protest the far-right, religious government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Protesters gathered in several major cities on Saturday night, with many waving Israeli flags. Banners and signs at demonstrations in Tel Aviv carried slogans such as "Stop them," "Israel is not Iran" or "The plundering government."
Organizers claimed more than 130,000 participants in the protests in Tel Aviv alone.
There have been regular rallies across Israel for months, initially triggered by a proposed reform of the Israeli judiciary being pushed by Netanyahu's government.
This week, the protest was also directed against the proposed budget, which must be approved by the end of May. According to media reports, far-right religious parties in Netanyahu's coalition in particular are set to benefit from the budget already approved by the finance committee.
The organizers of the protests accused the government of plotting "to plunder the public treasury in favor of political corruption, rather than investing in the welfare of citizens" and called it "a decisive step towards transforming Israel into a dictatorial regime."
The far-right religious coalition wants to curtail the power of Israel's supreme court by giving politicians more influence over the courts and parliament the power to overturn judicial decisions.
Leaders of Israel's government have accused the court of excessive interference in political decisions. Critics see the separation of powers in danger and warn that the reforms could plunge the country into a national crisis.
Netanyahu suspended the reform plans in March. Negotiations between the government and the opposition on a compromise have so far been unsuccessful.
