Thousands of Israelis protest Netanyahu’s court overhaul plans
TEL AVIV, Israel — Tens of thousands of Israelis gathered in central Tel Aviv on Saturday night to protest plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government to overhaul the legal system and weaken the Supreme Court — a step critics say will destroy the country’s democratic system of checks and balances.
The protest presented an early challenge to Netanyahu and his ultranationalist national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has ordered police to take tough action if protesters block roads or display Palestinian flags.
Israeli media, citing police, said the crowd at Tel Aviv’s Habima Square swelled to at least 80,000 people despite cool, rainy weather. Protesters, many covered by umbrellas, held Israeli flags and signs saying “Criminal Government,” “The End of Democracy” and other slogans.
No major unrest was reported, though Israeli media said small crowds scuffled with police as they tried to block a Tel Aviv highway.
Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, has made overhauling the country’s legal system a centerpiece of his agenda.
In office for just over two weeks, his government, which is comprised of ultra-Orthodox and farright nationalist parties, has launched proposals to weaken the Supreme Court by giving parliament the power to overturn court decisions with a simple majority vote. It also wants to give parliament control over the appointment of judges and reduce the independence of legal advisers.
Netanyahu’s justice minister says unelected judges have too much power. But opponents to the plans say the proposed changes will rob the judiciary of its independence and undermine Israeli democracy. Israeli opposition leaders, former attorney generals and the president of Israel’s Supreme Court have all spoken out against the plan.
The legal changes could help Netanyahu evade conviction, or even make his corruption trial disappear entirely.
Since being indicted in 2019, Netanyahu has said the justice system is biased against him.
Mideast tensions: Israeli troops shot and killed two Palestinian militants during a military raid in the occupied West Bank early Saturday, while a third Palestinian died of wounds sustained in a separate Israeli raid nearly two weeks earlier, according to Palestinian medical officials.
The military said its soldiers opened fire in the village of Jaba, south of Jenin in the northern West Bank, after gunmen in a passing vehicle shot at them. They said that soldiers later confiscated an M-16 rifle from the vehicle.
The bloodshed raised the number of Palestinians killed in fighting with the Israelis to 12 this year, as deadly fighting in the area from 2022 shows no signs of slowing in the new year.
The Islamic Jihad, a Gaza-based militant group backed by Iran, said the two gunmen killed in Jenin were members of its armed wing.
California storms: Steady rain was falling across much of California again on Saturday, imperiling travelers, swelling rivers and filling storm drains already taxed by nearly three weeks of catastrophic downpours that have left at least 19 people
dead and caused widespread flooding and destruction across the state.
Nearly 26 million California residents were under a flood watch as of late Saturday morning, according to Andrew Orrison, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.
From 1 to 5 inches of rain was expected to fall across much of the state on Saturday — not a huge amount, comparatively, but the sopping-wet soil can’t handle it, and more trees could topple in wind gusts of up to 55 mph. More rain is expected Monday.
Former king’s funeral: Greek media said Saturday that 1,000 police will be deployed for the funeral service and burial of former King Constantine.
Police wouldn’t confirm the reports, but announced that a figure was finalized at a meeting of top security officials on Saturday.
Constantine, the former
and last king of Greece, will be buried as a private citizen Monday in the royals’ former summer residence of Tatoi, about 18 miles north of Athens, next to his parents and where his ancestors are buried, the government announced Wednesday.
Constantine died in a hospital Tuesday at age 82. Greece’s monarchy was definitively abolished in a referendum in December 1974 and Constantine spent decades in exile before settling in his home country once more in his waning years.
US, islands near deals: The Biden administration is nearing deals with two Pacific Island nations to extend ties that are considered critical to maintaining balance in the U.S.-China rivalry for influence in a region where the Chinese are rapidly expanding their economic, diplomatic and military clout.
Last week, the U.S. signed memorandums of understanding
with the Marshall Islands and Palau that administration officials hope will pave the way for the quick completion of broader agreements that will govern the islands’ relations with Washington for the next two decades. Those ties grant the U.S. unique military and other security rights on the islands in return for substantial aid.
The administration believes that extending those so-called Compacts of Free Association agreements will be key to efforts to retain American power and blunt Chinese assertiveness throughout the Indo-Pacific.
The memorandums lay out the amounts of money that the federal government will provide to the Marshall Islands and Palau if their compacts are successfully renegotiated. Negotiations on a similar memorandum with a third compact country, Micronesia, are ongoing.
Mega Millions: Maine scored its first Mega Millions jackpot
— and someone beat the ill fortune of Friday the 13th — when a ticket purchased in the state matched the winning numbers for the lottery’s estimated $1.35 billion grand prize.
The lucky combination of numbers drawn late Friday night were: 30, 43, 45, 46, 61 and gold Mega Ball 14. The winning ticket was sold at Hometown Gas & Grill in Lebanon, Maine, according to the Maine State Lottery. The southern Maine town of more than 6,500 residents borders New Hampshire.
“There’s quite a buzz at our small-town gas station this morning, I’ll tell you that,” said owner Fred Cotreau, who was not the winner.
The jackpot was the second largest in Mega Millions history and the fourth time the game has had a billion-dollar win. The largest Mega Millions jackpot in October 2018 was $1.53 billion claimed by a single ticket holder in South Carolina.