Protesters launch ‘day of disruption’
Demonstrations have been planned for Ben Gurion Airport, Knesset, and US consulate in Tel Aviv, as organisers vow to ‘escalate the struggle’ after coalition passes ‘reasonableness’ bill in its 1st reading.
(Times of Israel) – Protesters opposed to the government’s judicial overhaul launched a nationwide “day of disruption” on Tuesday, after the coalition renewed its legislative push by advancing a bill that will curtail judges’ oversight of politicians.
Protest leaders have pledged to intensify their opposition to the government’s plans, and were hoping for a show of force after the coalition passed the legislation, which will block judicial review over the “reasonableness” of politicians’ decisions, in its first reading. The legislation needs to pass two more Knesset readings to become law.
The vote early on Tuesday morning marked the first approval of a judicial overhaul bill since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspended the far-reaching legislative package in late March.
The protest actions on Tuesday began with dozens of demonstrators setting up tents at an intersection in Herzliya, calling the outpost “a democracy camp.”
The tents blocked off traffic in both directions on Route 20 in the central city, police said. Video from the scene showed protesters burning tires and singing protest songs.
At the Karkur traffic junction, near Hadera, protesters blocked off Route 65 with a huge banner that said, “No entrance for a dictatorship.”
Other rallies at street intersections around the country were scheduled to start at around 7am, and a student march will set off from Tel Aviv University an hour later.
The Brothers in Arms group, a leading protest organisation led by distinguished military veterans, will lead morning rallies in Jerusalem.
“The struggle against the regime coup is escalating. Everyone is coming out to the streets to fight for democracy,” Brothers in Arms said in a statement.
The main demonstration will take place at Ben Gurion Airport at 4pm.
Protesters will gather at the US consulate in Tel Aviv and the president’s residence in Jerusalem from 6:30pm, and at Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street and “various locations nationwide” at 8:30pm.
Protesters are also expected to block highways, major intersections, and gather outside the Supreme Court and the Knesset.
Some employers, including banks, universities and tech firms, have granted their workers the day off to join the protests.
Organisers called for a demonstration “such as has never been seen before in Israel.”
They said they were “issuing a final call for the government to stop the legislation.”
“If the government doesn’t stop — the whole country will stop,” they said.
In addition to the demonstrations, increasing numbers of reservists have renewed threats not to volunteer for service if the legislation passes.
The protests have roiled Israel for 27 consecutive weeks, since Justice Minister Yariv Levin announced the overhaul package in January.
Police were bolstering forces across the country to prepare for Tuesday’s events.
Around 900 officers will be dispatched to the airport, Channel 13 reported, after a demonstration there last week caused major disruptions.
Undercover officers will be present at the airport to attempt to head off any conflict between the protesters and their opponents, or between the protesters and travellers, the Kan public broadcaster reported.
Transportation Minister Miri Regev has instructed police to limit entrance to the airport’s Terminal 3 to only people with flight tickets, but the order requires the attorney general’s approval, which it has not yet received, Kan reported.
The government has also instructed protesters to keep 300 metres away from the homes of senior government officials, Channel 13 reported. Demonstrators have taken to rallying outside the homes of coalition lawmakers in recent weeks, irking the government.
The coalition is also making preparations to ensure that lawmakers will be able to reach the Knesset, despite the protests, Channel 13 reported.
Channel 12 said that, generally, police intend to respond quickly to any disruption to traffic nationwide, as seen at a Saturday demonstration in Tel Aviv, when some demonstrators descended onto the Ayalon Highway and blocked it in both directions.
Saturday’s rallies in Tel Aviv were the first such demonstrations where police were commanded by Tel Aviv District deputy chief David Filo, following the departure of district head Amichai Eshed this week.
Eshed’s announcement of his resignation, saying he was to be transferred from the role due to politicians’ distaste for his soft approach toward demonstrators, led to spontaneous mass protests.
On Sunday, Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara and other senior officials in the Justice Ministry were summoned to the cabinet meeting to discuss how law enforcement agencies have dealt with the protests.
The attorney general was repeatedly attacked by several ministers and some called for her dismissal, as they railed against authorities’ handling of the demonstrators.
Ministers have bristled at what they view as overly soft handling of demonstrators who harass and heckle them wherever they go, stage protests at their homes and block key roads for hours at a time.
Photo: Jack Guez/AFP
The “reasonableness” bill passed its first reading early Tuesday morning along party lines by a vote of 64 to 56.
After the vote, opposition leaders vowed to continue to fight against the legislation, while government lawmakers celebrated, and pledged to push through the rest of the legislative package.
Since compromise talks collapsed in June, the coalition has focused its legislative efforts on passing the reasonableness bill before the summer session’s close at the end of the month, but the legislation is only a precursor to deeper judicial changes.
A more central piece of Levin’s legislative package is a bill to remake the system for judicial appointments, by transferring them into political control. A bill to that effect passed its first reading in February, and was set to be enacted in late March.
However, Netanyahu then fired his Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, who had warned that the national divide over the legislation was harming Israel’s security interests, huge national protests erupted, and the prime minister suspended the legislation and later reinstated Gallant.
Netanyahu has said he plans to advance the judicial selection legislation in the Knesset’s winter session, which opens in October.
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