Protests against the judicial reform turned violent again in Tel Aviv on Saturday nights protestors broke past police blockades.
Estimated hundreds of thousands of Israelis went out to the streets across the country to protest against the judicial reform on Saturday night.
Protestors break past police blockade
An Israel Police Spokesperson report said that approximately 200 protestors broke through the police blockade on Hashalom in Tel Aviv and lit a torch and that police officers were working to stop them.
Another police update said that protestors broke through the blockades to Ayalon Highway and were trying to block the road. The police brought in the cavalry to disperse the protestors and operated water cannons against the them.
Four people were arrested in Tel Aviv for disturbing public order throughout the protest.
Where did people protest?
The first location where protestors gathered was the Goma Junction near Kiryat Shmona where more than 1,500 gathered in the late afternoon including a group of women dressed as handmaids from Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.
In Rehovot, a giant copy of the Declaration of Independence was hung from a building, and protestors were able to sign it at the bottom as a message that in their eyes, the reform is not in keeping with the principles of the declaration.
In other locations such as Tel Aviv, Rishon Lezion, Herzliya and Haifa, people gathered en masse with their Israeli flags and signs.
In Tel Aviv, a man stood across the street from the protestors with a megaphone and called for them to go to Huwara where at terror attack last week was followed by settler riots in the town that destroyed a lot of property and killed one person.
In Modiin, hundreds of protestors gathered outside the home of Justice Minister Yariv Levin.
Opposition MKs join the protest in full force
"We believe in this country," said opposition leader Yair Lapid in Herzliya. "We believe that we have no existence if Israel is not a strong liberal democracy. We believe in the common good even if the government tries to divide us. We believe that our basic rights are not something that the government gave us as a gift and they are certainly not something that the government can take away from us."
"Don't pull the IDF that protects us all to this disagreement," said Gideon Sa'ar at a protest in Kiryat Ono. "We all need to protect the State of Israel together. Protect Israel, the security of Israel and Israel's democracy - these tools go hand in hand."
Sa'ar was speaking in reference to accusations that protestors were encouraging soldiers to defy their orders.
"Those who are here tonight are people who protect the state, who work for the state and serve the entire Israeli society and come from all places," said MK Benny Gantz in Beersheba. "Jews, Arabs, religious and secular, and I think this is very important and we must continue for two reasons - because we don't have another country and because we don't have another way."
Ben-Gvir orders police to stop protestors from blocking roads
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ordered the police on Friday to prevent Saturday's protestors from blocking roads and disrupting traffic, reminding Israel Police Chief Kobi Shabtai in a letter that it is the minister's job to decide on policies and not commanders in the field.
On Wednesday, Ben-Gvir issued an identical order which led to violence in a large protest in Tel Aviv that was held as the override clause of the reform was being voted on in the Knesset's legislation committee. Police officers threw stun grenades into the crowd, causing one man to lose an ear, and dozens of others were arrested.
Shabtai showed up in Tel Aviv as the protest kicked off and toured the area where the protest was planned to take place.
For over two months, tens of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets every Saturday night to protest against the reform. Protests have also been held on days in which the legislation process for the reform was being advanced.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.