Police were said to be expecting an increased turnout at rallies across the country on Saturday evening, as demonstrators intensified protests against the coalition’s renewed efforts to dramatically weaken the judiciary.
Demonstrations against the effort to remake the judicial system have gathered renewed steam over the past week as the coalition has advanced a bill to curtail judicial oversight over government decisions.
Organizers said in a statement that “the protests are intensifying” with rallies to be held at over 150 locations across the country.
The main Tel Aviv rally will begin with a march from HaBima Square at 7 p.m.
Speeches were set to start at around 8:30 p.m. to accommodate those who observe Shabbat.
The central protest will be addressed by Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, Moran Zer Katzenstein, the leader of the women’s protest movement who was detained by police on Thursday during a demonstration outside the home of women’s status minister May Golan, and tech entrepreneur and protest leader Moshe Radman. The event will be compered by journalist Or-ly Barlev.
Bonot Alternative founder Moran Zer Katzenstein (R) with protesters outside the home of May Golan in Tel Aviv, June 29, 2023 (Bonot Alternative)
In a statement, protest organizers cited moves by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline coalition to limit demonstrations near lawmakers’ homesand calls by ministers for more arrests and prosecutions of those who block roads and the airport.
“[The government] intends to limit freedom of expression along with our right to protest, and we are seeing police action being taken against prominent protesters who oppose the regime,” the statement read.
“All these steps are ones seen only under dictatorial regimes. This proves beyond a shadow of a doubt to anyone who was still uncertain, that Israel is in the midst of an attempted regime coup of the worst kind,” protest leaders said.
“Now is the time to come out and resist in every legal and nonviolent way possible,” the statement read.
Activists paint a rainbow flag and the phrase ‘Here to Stay’ on the road near Mitzpe Rimon, July 1, 2023 (Courtesy The Pink Front)
In addition to the detention of a number of prominent protesters this week, it was reported that an official task force set up by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir will investigate if former prime minister Ehud Barak and ex-Meretz MK Yair Golan can be charged with incitement for comments urging anti-government protests.
While protesters somewhat lowered the flames over the past few months as the judicial overhaul legislation was paused, organizers said that now that the government has begun moving ahead in the Knesset with certain elements of the plan, they are renewing efforts.
According to Hebrew-language media reports, police were not expecting any surprises on Saturday evening, similar to the blocking of Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway on Thursday.
Israelis protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to overhaul the judicial system in Tel Aviv, Israel, June 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
The protest came as opponents of the government’s judicial overhaul were set to demonstrate outside Ben Gurion Airport’s main terminal on Monday.
Organizers called on protesters to drive in convoys and gather outside Ben Gurion Airport’s Terminal 3 at 5:30 p.m. on Monday.
They said that the airport had been chosen as a venue for the protest as it “symbolizes that Israel is a flourishing liberal and democratic nation.”
With schools finished for the year, the airport is expected to see increased traffic as families head out for summer vacations.
Protest organizers said they did not wish to disrupt the plans of travelers, warning them to avoid arriving at the airfield by car, and instead to take the train.
Participants were asked to try to prevent any impediment to the public trying to reach the airport, and to block only the sidewalk outside the terminal rather than any roads.
Netanyahu, who was forced to take a helicopter to the airport to catch a flight abroad earlier this year because demonstrators were blocking the roads, this week blasted the legal authorities for not prosecuting demonstrators who block access to the airport.
Anti-government protesters wave national flags as they demonstrate outside Ben Gurion Airport against the controversial judicial reform bill as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to Germany on an official visit on March 15, 2023. (AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP)
The protests were ramped up as the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice convened for deliberations on a bill to block justices from exercising judicial review over the “reasonableness” of government decisions.
Coalition figures have vowed to pass such legislation before the Knesset summer recess at the end of the month.
And Netanyahu has stated his government will also move later on to reshape the powerful Judicial Selection Committee, though he has added this will take a different shape than Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s previous plan to assert full political control over the process.
On Friday, opponents of the government’s judicial overhaul rallied outside the homes of several ministers.
At Moshav Amikam in northern Israel, demonstrators gathered near the Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s home carrying Israeli flags and playing drums and vuvuzelas while chanting “democracy.”
Outside Social Equality Minister Amichai Chikli’s home in Kibbutz Hanaton, protesters donned costumes from “The Handmaid’s Tale” — which have become a fixture at the anti-overhaul demonstrations — to decry the level of female representation in Netanyahu’s government, a week after Israel fell 23 spots to 83rd in the World Economic Forum’s annual global gender gap report.
Of the 33 ministers currently in the cabinet, only six are women.
A screenshot from video of a protest outside Social Equality Minister Amichai Chikli’s home at Kibbutz Hanaton in northern Israel shows protesters wearing costumes from “The Handmaid’s Tale,” June 30, 2023. (Twitter. Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Protesters also rallied outside the homes of Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman, who live in the central cities of Modiin and Rehovot, respectively.
Levin is a leading proponent of remaking the judicial system and has been a frequent target of protesters, six of whom were arrested Tuesday during a fiery demonstration outside his home. Silman was a member of the previous coalition before helping precipitate its collapse last year by defecting, prior to which she accused Netanyahu’s Likud party — which she now belongs to — of funding protests outside her house. This week she called for police to move protests away from residential areas, citing excess noise.
The protests came a day after Netanyahu, Levin and Ben Gvir hit out at top law enforcement officials during a meeting to discuss the rallies outside the homes of coalition lawmakers.
The three accused Attorney General Baharav-Miara of negligence during a closed-door meeting to discuss protesters demonstrating outside the homes of coalition lawmakers, leaks from which were widely reported by Hebrew media.
Ben Gvir, who has been urging police to deal more forcefully with protesters, demanded Baharav-Miara and State Prosecutor Amit Aisman present indictments filed against protesters in the past six months.
In addition, hundreds of military reservists — many in elite units — have said they will no longer volunteer for duty if the contentious overhaul is passed.