Israelis protests before hearing on judicial overhaul

Israeli police disperse protesters outside the residence of Justice Minister Yariv Levin. Pic/AP

Scores of Israeli protesters on Monday flooded the streets outside the home of Israel's justice minister, the architect of the country's divisive judicial overhaul, a day before the Supreme Court hears a crucial case against the curbing of its powers.

Israeli police said they arrested six people in the central Israeli town of Modiin, home to Justice Minister Yariv Levin, on charges of disrupting public order and blocking roads as they protested plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government to weaken the Supreme Court. The judicial plan has triggered one of the biggest domestic crises in Israeli history and exposed the country's bitter divides.

The rowdy crowd of roughly 200 demonstrators outside Levin's home blew horns, chanted through megaphones against the government and brandished signs, jostling with police who pushed back the crowds. After a few hours, Levin left his besieged home in a sleek black car surrounded by police officers and security guards who tried to clear a path for him through the swarm of protesters.

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On Tuesday, all 15 of Israel's Supreme Court justices will appear on the bench for the first time ever to hear an appeal against the first major part of the overhaul, which the the government pushed through parliament in July.

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