Protester says Israel facing gravest threat since 1973 Yom Kippur War

As tens of thousands of people protest in Jerusalem, holding up flags, chanting and singing, a protester against the judicial overhaul alleges Israel is “experiencing the biggest threat since the Yom Kippur war” in 1973.

“I have been to a number of protests on Saturdays in Jerusalem and today I feel Tel Aviv has come to Jerusalem,” says David, 73, a family therapist from Jerusalem who has been in Israel for 50 years, originally from Cincinnati in the US.

“Enough or a lot of pressure will be needed from the local population and from overseas and the high tech sector to change what is emerging. As a first, it would be good if everyone accepted [President Isaac Herzog’s] proposals.

“I’m worried about general corruption, civil rights in Israel and the democratic system,” he adds. “What country are we leaving for our grandchildren? We didn’t come to Israel for this.”

At a section of the general protest branded the “high-tech protest,” tech employees chant “Without money there is no high-tech,” a reference to several companies that have pulled their financial activities out of Israel citing an economic threat stemming from the legal shakeup.

“Today is a strike, we are here to protect our country,” says one sign. Others include: “In Poland, Turkey is there high-tech? No”; “This is the time to wake up, Israel is not a dictatorship”; “No freedom? No high tech”; and “Bibi, Sara we are not in Hungary here,” addressing the prime minister and his wife.