Organisers said around 258,000 people attended, but police gave no figures of their own. Netanyahu last month had announced the firing of his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, who cited a threat to national security because "the growing social rift" had made its way into the army and security agencies. Opponents have raised fears for Israel's democracy but the government, a coalition between Netanyahu's Likud party and extreme-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies, argues the changes are needed to rebalance powers between lawmakers and the judiciary