- Title: Tel Aviv gets new metro line but Sabbath-closure stirs secular anger
- Date: 17th August 2023
- Summary: PETAH TIKVA, ISRAEL (AUGUST 17, 2023) (REUTERS) DRONE FOOTAGE OF PROTESTERS OUTSIDE METRO INAUGURATION AREA DEMONSTRATING AGAINST JUDICIARY OVERHAUL, AS ISRAEL'S PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU ATTENDS INAUGURATION (MUTE) PEOPLE OUTSIDE VENUE WHERE NETANYAHU INAUGURATED METRO POLICE AT SITE PROTESTERS CHANTING SLOGANS (SOUNDBITE) (English) PROTESTER, GAL COHEN, 50, SAYING: "We came here to convey a clear message, all the people that gather here, to say we are here to say we are putting a red line to government. We will not allow the disassemble, the checking balances of this country. We will not allow the government to take all the power and not allow the supreme court to make any rules about their decision. We will not allow the government to make unreasonable decisions on behalf of the people of Israel." PROTESTER CHANTING THROUGH MEGAPHONE, WAVING ISRAELI FLAG VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS BANNER ON A BULLDOZER READING IN (Hebrew) CIVIL WAR PEOPLE CHANTING, POLICE OUTSIDE METRO INAUGURATION SITE
- Embargoed: 31st August 2023 17:40
- Keywords: Israel Netanyahu Tel Aviv judiciary metro protest
- Location: TEL AVIV AND PITAH TIKVA, ISRAEL
- City: TEL AVIV AND PITAH TIKVA, ISRAEL
- Country: Israel
- Topics: Middle East,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001507117082023RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched Tel Aviv's long-anticipated light rail on Thursday (August 17) amid protests against his religious-nationalist government and anger in the mostly secular city that the network will be closed on the Jewish Sabbath.
Police held back anti-government demonstrators as Netanyahu took the maiden ride on the "Red Line," but the sounds of protesters blowing horns and chanting were heard loudly as he stepped out of a carriage to cut a red ribbon during the inauguration ceremony at the northern Petah Tikva terminus.
Israel's freewheeling business hub Tel Aviv has been the main stage for demonstrations against the government's campaign to change the judiciary which has set off unprecedented protests and stirred concern for the country's democratic health.
Tel Aviv's veteran mayor Ron Huldai boycotted the event, even though he has waited for 23 years for a light rail to slice through the congested metropolis which, including Tel Aviv's neighbouring towns, is home to more than 1.2 million.
(Production: Rami Amichayi, Illan Rosenberg, Roleen Tafakji) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None