Tens of thousands rally outside the Knesset against judicial overhaul

Tens of thousands of protesters have now gathered outside the Knesset to demonstrate against the government’s contentious judicial overhaul.

The area around the Knesset is packed with people who have joined a nationwide strike, many of them carrying placards and with thousands of Israeli flags.

Traffic into Jerusalem is at a crawl as convoys of vehicles head for the capital.

The government is currently advancing legislation that would overhaul the legal system, significantly curbing the High Court of Justice’s power to exercise judicial review, giving the government an automatic majority on the judicial selection committee, allowing lawmakers to overrule court rulings with a bare majority and allowing government ministers to appoint their own legal advisers.