Reuters. Israeli police on Monday (July 3) forcefully removed protesters from the country's main international airport after hours of noisy and chaotic anti-government demonstrations.
Thousands of protesters converged on Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, some scuffling with police who sought to keep them from blocking access to the terminal for flights in and out of the country.
The sidewalk outside the airport was flooded with people blowing vuvuzelas and waiving a forest of Israeli flags with police on horseback trying to clear the road and let busses of passengers through.
Protesting against a plan by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to overhaul the judiciary, some managed to enter the arrivals hall dancing and with megaphones chanted, "Democracy!" Police officers eventually escorted them out.
Earlier in the day, demonstrators briefly shut off access to a major Israeli seaport.
The legislative push, unveiled after Netanyahu regained power in late December atop a hard-right coalition, has set off unprecedented protests, stirred concerns for Israel's democratic health and dented the economy.
Netanyahu doused some of the furore in March by pausing the legislation and holding compromise talks with the opposition. Those negotiations proved fruitless, and he is now pursuing what he deems a scaled-back version of the overhaul. The opposition says the changes remain dangerous.
Netanyahu has defended the reforms as restoring balance between the various branches of government and redressing what he and his coalition allies see as judicial overreach. Critics fear a bid by Netanyahu to curb court independence even as he argues his innocence in a long-running corruption trial.
