Protesters opposing the revamp plan major protests, protest convoys, and another large protest at Ben Gurion Airport a day after the Knesset votes on the contentious ‘reasonableness’ law.
Police were increasing up their forces across the country in preparation for a “day of disruption” planned by anti-government protestors on Tuesday in reaction to the conservative coalition’s intensified efforts to restructure Israel’s courts.
Protest leaders have pledged to intensify their opposition to the plans, and were hoping for a show of force on Tuesday as they express growing outrage over the coalition’s plan to pass a bill removing courts’ ability to rule on the “reasonability” of governmental decisions in its first Knesset reading Monday.
The law, which would bar the judiciary from utilising the “reasonableness” argument to review decisions taken by the cabinet, government ministers, and various other elected officials, was adopted last week by the Knesset’s Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee. According to reports, the coalition hopes to have it passed into law before the Knesset adjourns for the summer session at the end of July.
Anti-government protest organisers declared Saturday, ahead of the weekly rallies’ 27th consecutive week, that it would be “July’s first Day of Resistance,” with rallies, protest convoys, and disruptions across the country, as well as another large-scale protest at Ben Gurion Airport in the afternoon.
On Tuesday, organisers have called for a “never-before-seen in Israel” demonstration. They stated that they were ‘making a final demand for the government to stop the legislation, and not to put to the first vote the first authoritarian law, which will allow the government a blank cheque to behave with extreme unreasonableness’.
“If the israel government doesn’t stop — the whole country will stop,” the protester have said.
One more English-language protest announcement labelled Tuesday’s events a “day of disruption” that would involve demonstrations at the airport, the US consulate in Tel Aviv, the president’s residence in Jerusalem, and other “various locations nationwide.”
Protesters provoked the government’s ire last week when they converged at Ben Gurion Airport, battling with police, refusing requests to change their intentions, blocking the main airport artery, and crowding the main Terminal 3 arrivals hall in order to voice their opposition to the legislation. Some protesters carried signs calling the administration a “criminal gang” and declaring that the demonstrations were “Saving Democracy.”
The chaos produced enormous traffic backups at the airport’s entrance and on highways going to the site. Some planes were delayed for several hours, and according to Hebrew media accounts, many passengers missed their flights.
To avoid similar manoeuvres and the scenes at the airport seen last week, police want to encourage airport authorities to turn away passengers who do not have aircraft tickets from Terminal 3, Channel 12 said on Sunday.
The police intend to establish a protest area across from Terminal 3 and prevent demonstrators from spreading to other areas. Protesters who break the instructions by blocking roads or causing other disruptions will be detained or arrested, according to the article.
Police are going to let the airport protest to go but will act “swiftly and decisively” if instructions are not followed, according to Channel 12.
According to the source, police expect to respond rapidly to any interruption in traffic across the country, as shown in Saturday’s demonstration in Tel Aviv, when some participants climbed onto the Ayalon Highway and briefly closed it in both directions.
Police quickly removed the demonstrators from the road, and two persons were arrested.
Following the retirement of district head Amichai Eshed this week, Saturday’s marches in Tel Aviv were the first such demonstrations under the command of Tel Aviv District deputy chief David Filo. Eshed’s resignation announcement, stating that he would be transferred due to politicians’ dislike for his gentle approach towards demonstrators, sparked spontaneous mass protests and the closure of the Ayalon Highway for several hours.
On Saturday, police rejected a claim by Kan that they planned to build up detention centres near various protest areas on Tuesday to hold people.
Furthermore to the protests, an increasing number of reservists have threatened to not volunteer for service if the legislation is passed. In addition, several of tech businesses announced on Saturday that employees who wanted to protest might take the day off on Tuesday.
The weekly protests have been ongoing since Justice Minister Yariv Levin disclosed the revamp plans in January, and have recently increased as Netanyahu’s conservative coalition has revived its efforts to unilaterally pass some of the relevant laws.
Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara and other senior Justice Ministry officials were summoned to a cabinet meeting on Sunday to discuss how law enforcement agencies handled with the large wave of rallies, which included highway blockades and other kinds of protest.
As they screamed about the authorities’ handling of the protests, some ministers frequently assailed the attorney general, and several demanded for her dismissal.
Ministers have reacted angrily to what they see as too lenient treatment of demonstrators who harass and heckle them wherever they go, conduct protests at their residences, and block major routes for hours at a time.
At the end of the meeting on Sunday, Baharav-Miara was instructed to submit to the cabinet a document describing law enforcement policy towards roadblocking, protests at elected officials’ houses, and calls for refusal to serve in the military and other kinds of disobedience within seven days.
She was also told to produce a clear enforcement policy for Ben Gurion Airport by Tuesday.