News - Middle East: Thousands of demonstrators have blocked traffic into the departures area at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv and clashed with military forces, where Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin landed for talks.

Police on Thursday fired tear gas to disperse the crowds and arrested several people during "a day of resistance" protests which were timed to coincided with Austin's arrival and prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's trip abroad. 

Austin had to hastily reschedule the visit due to a surge in street protests against Netanyahu's plan to overhaul the judiciary which is putting Israel on an extremist path.

The Pentagon chief met Netanyahu at the airport for more than an hour and was due to hold talks with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Galant, reports said. 

Austin had originally been due to arrive on Wednesday and stay overnight in Tel Aviv, where Israel's ministry of military affairs is based. But those plans were changed due to traffic disruptions from protests.
Netanyahu was flown to the airport early in the morning by a helicopter in order to avoid the protesters. He was due to leave Ben Gurion airport for a two-day visit to Rome on Thursday afternoon.

Police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was at the airport coordinating the response to the protests. Mounted police moved into the area in an attempt to move the protesters.

Elsewhere, protesters in Tel Aviv headed towards Ayalon highway, where police were on standby with water cannons. The highway has been a key flashpoint between demonstrators and police in recent weeks.

Israel has been rocked by the biggest wave of protests for more than a decade, with hundreds of thousands of Israelis joining weekly demonstrations against changes they regard as a fundamental threat to the entity, with several figures warning that the worsening strife might lead to its disintegration.  

In a sign of the widening scope of public anger, a group of reservists from an elite air force squadron said this week that they would not take part in training flights.