“Day of Disruption” sees blocked roads, arrests

Rallies, marches, convoys, and blocked roads will be part of a “day of disruption” called for today by the leaders of the protest movement against the government’s judicial overhaul legislation. This follows the passage by the Knesset at first reading of a bill to remove the ability of the courts to nullify a decision by an elected official or by the government on the grounds that it is unreasonable in the extreme.

The bill abolishing the reasonability test for decisions by elected officials and the government passed at first reading by 64 votes to 56. Minister of Justice Yariv Levin, who spoke last in the debate, said that the amendment to the law “restores Israel to the ranks of democratic peoples and brings it into line with what is customary in the entire democratic world” and that “the government is not above the law, it is obliged to act solely within the framework of the law, with due procedure, and without conflicts of interests.”

Leader of the Opposition Yair Lapid tweeted after the vote, “Like thieves in the night, the government has now passed the abolition of the reasonableness test and proved that nothing interests it other than corrupt and anti-democratic legislation. The struggle is not over. We shall never give up on the values of the State of Israel.”

One of the main focuses of today’s demonstrations will be Ben Gurion Airport, Israel’s main international airport, where some 84,000 passengers on 499 flights are due to pass through today. The demonstration there is set to start at 16:00. Israel Police has said that protests will not be allowed within the airport terminal.

At 9:30 this morning, bereaved families of fallen IDF soldiers demonstrated outside the Ministry of Defense at the military headquarters compound in Tel Aviv. The demonstration is led by the “Bereaved Families for Democracy” group, which said in a statement: “We who bear within us the memory of the fallen feel shock and deep disgust at the attempt to emasculate and uproot the country’s basic values, for the sake of which our loved ones sacrificed their lives. This attempt is a critical blow to the memory of the fallen and is liable, if it succeeds, to turn their sacrifice into a sacrifice in vain.”

At 11:00, technology workers will hold a demonstration in the Sarona area in Tel Aviv and march to the Israel Tax Authority Building. Lawyers are due to hold a demonstration outside the Tel Aviv courts building. In Jerusalem, they will hold a demonstration opposite the Supreme Court. This evening, a rally is due to take place in Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv and at other points around the country.

Rallies are also planned by the UnXeptable movement of Israelis abroad at airports in London, Madrid, New York, Paris, Munich, Seoul, and Amsterdam. The protesters intend to distribute leaflets in Hebrew to Israelis flying back to Israel.

Protesters blocked the Hasira Junction in Herzliya earlier this morning, set up tents, and set tires alight. They were forcibly removed by the police.

Hundreds of people demonstrated outside the courts in Haifa this morning. Road 443 was blocked in a demonstration led by the “Brothers in Arms” organization. On Road 65 in the north, a sign was erected saying “No Entry to Dictatorship”. The police removed demonstrators on Road 2 and arrested one of them. The road was reopened to traffic.

The Ayalon South highway was blocked at KKL junction. Police have arrested nine demonstrators. The Hemed interchange on Road 1 near Jerusalem was also blocked, and six people were arrested at Maccabim junction. The police have also evacuated dozens of protesters from the Terminal 3 building at Ben Gurion Airport.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on July 11, 2023.

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2023.