March 12 (UPI) -- Judicial reforms backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are seeing a forceful blowback by protesters and political opponents in the streets of Israel.
About 500,000 people across the country, many waving the Israeli flag, have gathered in the streets through the weekend to protest a reform bill that would give the sitting government full authority to make judicial appointments, the BBC reported. Critics say the reform would damage the nation's democracy, economy and security.
President Isaac Herzog and opposition leader Yair Lapid have called for the proposed changes to be abandoned while Netanyahu claims his political opponents are responsible for stirring backlash. Herzog said the current iteration of the reform bill is "oppressive," and has called for a pause so parties can meet and find a compromise.
Netanyahu's camp has expressed some interest in opening talks but remains steadfast that there will be no pause and no preconditions to the reforms.
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