Israelis blockade airport in judicial reform protest
Thousands of protesters blockaded Israel's main airport and major highways on Tuesday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-right coalition pressed ahead with a justice bill that has opened the deepest splits seen in the country in decades. A day after parliament passed a key element in the bill, which aims to curb the power of the Supreme Court, crowds of flag-waving protesters stopped morning traffic in major intersections and on highways nationwide. Some lay down on roads, while others threw flares. Police on horseback deployed among hundreds of demonstrators in Israel's business hub, Tel Aviv. At the entrance to Jerusalem, officers used a water cannon to disperse some protesters and dragged others away by force. At least 66 people were arrested, police said. Around 1,000 police were deployed at Ben Gurion airport, outside Tel Aviv, where thousands of protesters turned the area in front of the main entrance into a sea of blue and white Israeli flags. The drive by Netanyahu's nationalist-religious coalition to change the justice system has sparked unprecedented protests, stirred concern for Israel's democratic health among Western allies and bruised the economy. "They are trying to ruin our judicial system, by putting and enforcing laws that will demolish democracy," said Ariel Dubinsky, who joined one of the protests in Tel Aviv. The proposals have also alarmed investors and helped push the shekel down almost 8 percent since January. The new bill won a first of three required votes to be written into law late on Monday to the cries of 'for shame' by opposition lawmakers. If passed as is, it would curb the Supreme Court's power to quash decisions made by the government, ministers and elected officials by ruling them unreasonable. (Reuters)