‘I’m ready for elections’: demands for democracy grow as Netanyahu nears climbdown

Tens of thousands gather outside Knesset in culmination of three months of pressure on Israeli PM

• Live updates: pressure piles on Netanyahu over judicial changes

One word is heard more often than any other on the streets of Jerusalem these days: democratia, or democracy. About 100,000 people sang, shouted and banged pots and pans outside the Knesset building on Monday afternoon, many carrying Israel’s blue and white flag. The demonstrators were tired; some had been up all night.

But after three months of unrelenting public pressure, the biggest protest movement in Israeli history has nearly reached its goal: the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is widely expected to announce a halt to his far-right government’s judicial overhaul.