Half a million Israelis have taken to the streets for the tenth consecutive week of protests against plans by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to overhaul the country’s justice system, organizers said.

Israel has a population of just over 9 million, so if organizers’ estimates are correct, about 5 percent of Israelis took to the streets to voice their opposition to the proposed reforms, according to a CNN report.

Nearly half of the protesters – about 240,000 people – gathered in Tel Aviv, according to organizers. In Jerusalem, several hundred demonstrators gathered in front of the home of President Isaac Herzog. They brought Israeli flags and chanted slogans like “Israel will not become a dictatorship.”

On Thursday, the Duke, whose role is mostly ceremonial, called on the Netanyahu government to withdraw the judicial review law.

Protesters and critics of Netanyahu’s plan say it will weaken the country’s courts and undermine the judiciary’s ability to control the power of other branches of the country’s government, CNN reports.

The legislative package will give Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, the power to overturn decisions of the Supreme Court by a simple majority vote. It will also give the government the power to appoint judges, which is currently held by a committee made up of judges, lawyers and politicians. It will remove the rights and independence of government ministry legal advisers and strip courts of the power to overrule “irrational” government appointments, as the Supreme Court did in January, forcing Netanyahu to fire interior and health minister Aryeh Deri.

Critics, writes CNN, accuse Netanyahu of pushing through the law to avoid the corruption trial he now faces. Netanyahu denies this, saying that trials are collapsing on their own and that changes are needed because judges are not elected.

Israel does not have a written constitution, but a set of fundamental laws, as they are called.

“We’re done with the pleasantries,” said Shikma Bressler, the leader of the protesters. “If the proposed laws are passed, Israel will no longer be a democracy.”

About two in three (66%) Israelis believe the Supreme Court should have the power to strike down laws that are inconsistent with Israel’s Basic Laws, and about the same percentage (63%) say they support the current judicial appointment system, according to the poll. last month for the Israel Democracy Institute.

“The only thing this government cares about is the collapse of Israeli democracy,” said opposition leader and former prime minister Gair Lapid.

At the same time, Knesset Judiciary Committee Chairman Simcha Rothman scheduled hearings on the controversial bill every day from Sunday to Wednesday.

As such, he appears to be rejecting calls to slow down or halt Knesset consideration of a bill allowing compromise talks and is prepared to stick strictly to the timetable he announced with Justice Minister Yariv Levin.

This timetable provides for the approval of the key elements of the reform before the end of the winter session of the Knesset on April 2.

According to CNN