Protesters In Israeli Barricades 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.

“Thousands of protesters, many waving Israeli flags and carrying signs with slogans against the reforms, massed on main roads in Tel Aviv, causing major disruption to traffic.”

A line of police on horseback stood by as the demonstrators flowed past, with some chanting to the police: “We’re also here for you,” Haaretz newspaper reported.

Meanwhile, convoys of cars streamed towards the airport from early morning, causing ‘gridlock’ at the entrance to try to block Mr Netanyahu from getting there by road. He flew in by helicopter instead.

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin landed at the airport on Thursday and was reportedly forced to ‘alter’ his schedule because of the protests.

Escalating Violence
In talks with his Israeli counterpart, Mr Austin expressed concern about escalating violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It came hours after three Palestinian militants were killed in “a gun-battle” with Israeli forces in the town of Jaba.

Israel said the militants had opened fire as an undercover unit carried out an arrest raid. The official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, said the three had been “executed.”

Elsewhere in the demonstrations in Israel, students blocked one of the main entrances to the northern port city of Haifa, while in Jerusalem hundreds of military reservists demonstrated outside the offices of a pro-reform right-wing think tank.

Some blocked the entrance to the office with sandbags and seven reservists were arrested, local media reported.

BBC /Shakirat Sadiq