According to organizers, 85,000 people gathered outside the Knesset, 14,000 protested in Haifa and 10,000 gathered in Netanya. Smaller protests also took place simultaneously in localities across the country.

That same evening, some 200,000 people gathered in Tel Aviv, the epicenter of 28 weeks of protests against the judicial reform plan. Protesters plan to continue to march to Jerusalem to gather around the Knesset from July 23 to 25, when the legislature debates and votes for the second and final time on a controversial bill that would limit the Supreme Court’s power to rule on government decisions.

Tens of thousands of people gathered on the road from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on July 22. Photo: AFP

The Israeli Medical Association on the same day called on doctors to stop working and move to Jerusalem on July 23 to respond to the protest. Meanwhile, more than 10,000 reserve soldiers have announced that they will stop their annual military service to protest the judicial reform plan. Previously, more than 1,000 reservists of the Israeli Air Force also announced that they would refuse their annual training duty.

The head of Israel's General Confederation of Labor (Histadrut) held an emergency meeting on the night of July 22 as many demanded that he organize a nationwide general strike like the one in March, to prevent the Knesset from passing the controversial bill.

On the afternoon of July 22, Israeli police announced that they would close several roads in Jerusalem on July 22 and 23 due to the large number of protesters from various localities pouring into the city. Currently, traffic on Highway 1 connecting Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has been blocked in one direction due to protesters marching on this road.

VNA

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