Israeli mass protests against reforms block roads and airport

 Israeli mass protests against reforms block roads and airport

Protesters in Israel have blocked roads and attempted to stop the prime minister flying out the country amid nationwide demonstrations against controversial judicial reforms.

Vehicles obstructed access roads to Ben Gurion airport, from where Benjamin Netanyahu later took off for Rome.

The weeks-old protests are some of the biggest Israel has ever seen.

Critics say the reforms will undermine democracy; the government says planned changes are better for the electorate.

In Tel Aviv, thousands of protesters, many waving Israeli flags and carrying signs with slogans against the reforms, marched towards an intersection close to the city's busiest road, the Ayalon highway.

Shay Harel, 64, carried a sign with a target drawn in the middle, which he said was for the "policemen with the M16 [machineguns]".

"Last Wednesday they threw [stun] grenades at me, they hit me with horses - young soldiers who don't know what they're doing," he told the BBC.

"I don't blame them, they get their orders. I blame the Netanyahu family, who are demolishing my country. I won't let it happen, I'm ready to give my life for it. I have written my will," he said.

FULL ARTICLE AT: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-64866881