Israelis protest the government of Netanyahu in large numbers.

Numerous Israelis took to the streets on Saturday night to voice their opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government’s plans, which critics claim endanger democracy and freedoms.

Days after the inauguration of the most right-wing and religiously conservative administration in the nation’s 74-year history, protesters gathered in Tel Aviv, the capital city.

Some protesters carried rainbow flags. One sign read, “The settler government is against me.” Housing, livelihood, and hope were the words on another banner.

Left-leaning and Arab Knesset members were in charge of the demonstration. They claim that the new Cabinet’s proposed plans will impede the judicial system and widen social divides.

The government’s long-promised overhaul of the legal system, which aims to weaken the nation’s Supreme Court, was unveiled on Wednesday. The left-wing protesters criticized Justice Minister Yariv Levin for his announcement.

According to critics, the plan will upend Israel’s system of checks and balances and undermine its democratic institutions by granting the new ruling coalition absolute power, upending Israel’s legal system and undermining its institutions of democracy.

Danny Simon, 77, a protester from Yavne, south of Tel Aviv, said, “We are terrified that our country is going to lose the democracy and we are going to a dictatorship just for reasons of one person who wants to get rid of his law trial.” He referred to Netanyahu, who was charged with corruption in 2021 and has since denied the allegations.

According to Rula Daood of Standing Together, an Arab and Jewish grassroots movement, many laws are currently being pushed for in Israel that discriminate against LGBTQ people, Palestinians, and, more significantly, minorities. We are here to clarify that everyone in Israel, including Jews, Arabs, and other communities, demands justice, equality, and peace.