Tens of thousands of people rally in Tel Aviv to protest against the government’s proposed judicial overhaul.

Tens of thousands of Israelis have joined protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to overhaul the judiciary, despite soaring tensions after two deadly attacks a day earlier.

The protests against the plans, which were paused last month in the face of a wave of strikes and mass demonstrations, come amid surging violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

As protesters rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday, Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said. Ahed Salim, 20, was hit in the chest and stomach by live fire in Azzun near Qalqilyah, the ministry said.

Separately, the Israeli military said three rockets were launched from Syria toward Israeli territory. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the rocket launches, which caused no damage or casualties.

Around Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, tens of thousands of worshippers were expected for evening prayers amid concerns about a possible repeat of nighttime Israeli police raids this week that were followed by rocket barrages into Israel and Israeli air attacks on Gaza and southern Lebanon.

Israelis were also on edge after a car-ramming in Tel Aviv on Friday that killed an Italian man and wounded five other tourists, hours after a shooting attack killed two Israeli sisters and wounded their mother near an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank.

Netanyahu has mobilised border police reservists and ordered the army to reinforce security positions to head off possible trouble, amid calls for calm from the United Nations, the European Union and the United States.

People ignore government calls

In central Tel Aviv, crowds waving the blue and white Israeli flags that have become a hallmark of the protests during the past three months gathered in a show of defiance against plans they see as an existential threat to Israeli democracy.

Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar, reporting from Tel Aviv, said that some 145,000 people were expected to attend the protest.

“There were calls and warnings issued by the government asking people not to attend the protest today due to the security concerns,” he said.

“However, protesters say that the government is using security as an excuse and it is not going to stop them from taking to streets,” he said.

“They say that it is a historic moment for the country and they are here to save democracy in Israel.”

The judicial proposals, which would give the government effective control over the appointment of Supreme Court judges and allow parliament to overrule many decisions of the court, have caused one of the biggest domestic crises in Israel’s recent history.

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators, including army reservists, business leaders, members of Israel’s tech industry and leading academics have taken part, facing off against supporters of Netanyahu’s far-right religious-nationalist coalition.

Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, said that the growing crisis is further isolating Netanyahu.

He said that he is losing control of his government and was being subjected to “blackmail” by his coalition partners.

“He is losing big time in the polls in Israel. He is also losing the security situation as well as so-called stability and prosperity in the country.”

The government, which has accused activist judges of increasingly usurping the role of parliament, said the overhaul is needed to restore a proper balance between the judiciary and elected politicians.

Critics have said it will remove some of the vital checks and balances underpinning a democratic state and hand unchecked power to the government.

Before the protests, police had urged people to leave roads clear to allow emergency services to move freely following Friday’s car-ramming on a popular shoreline promenade in Tel Aviv.

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Moscow’s mayor has ordered unvaccinated people over 60 and those with chronic illnesses to stay at home, as Russia struggles with record Covid-19 deaths and infections.

Sergei Sobyanin said the restrictions would last four months, starting on Monday. Those affected will only be allowed to leave home to take exercise.

Officials blame the low vaccination rate and more infectious Delta variant.

Romania, Ukraine and Latvia also have record Covid cases now.

The Russian government has proposed a week-long workplace shutdown, from 30 October to 7 November, in the hope of curbing the new surge in infections. Many hospitals are now struggling to cope with the influx of Covid patients.

The official death toll from Covid on Tuesday was 1,015 – a new record. Saturday’s toll went above 1,000 for the first time in Russia’s pandemic. The number of new cases on Tuesday was 33,740.

In Russia, 35% of the population of more than 140 million people has had at least one jab against Covid – a lower rate than in most of Europe.

The authorities blame widespread suspicion of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine for the low rate, but there have also been production delays.

Businesses in Moscow will have to let at least 30% of their staff work from home during the four-month period of restrictions announced by Mayor Sobyanin.

On his blog, he wrote angrily that out of three million Muscovites aged 60 and above, just 1.14 million had been vaccinated: “As a result, today 60% of Covid patients in intensive care are over-60 Muscovites,” he said.

Elsewhere in Europe:

• Romania has reported its worst Covid death figures so far: 574 in a day. Just over one-third of adults in Romania have been fully vaccinated – well below the average rate in the EU
• Latvia is introducing a strict lockdown lasting nearly a month, from this Thursday to 15 November, to tackle a Covid surge which has made its death rate among the highest in the EU. Its total of confirmed new cases last week was 49% higher than the week before
• In Ukraine, the daily death toll rose to a record 538 on Tuesday, and daily new infections have gone above 16,000, stretching hospital emergency wards to breaking point.

Latvia’s Baltic neighbours Estonia and Lithuania also have Covid infection rates among the highest in the EU.

More than 225,000 people have died from Covid in Russia, according to official figures – the highest toll in Europe.

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L’article Covid: Moscow imposes new restrictions as infections soar est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.