At Anti-Reform Protest In Tel Aviv, Protesters Vow To ‘Oppose With Every Non-Violent Means’

JERUSALEM (VINnews) —Protests against the judicial reform ramped up again Saturday evening with a largescale demonstration on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv, as well as smaller demonstrations in different locales around the country. Some of the protesters arrived carrying Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) flags.

Protest leaders have pledged to further intensify their opposition to the government’s renewed efforts, and were hoping for a show of force as they voice increasing anger over the coalition’s plan to pass in its first Knesset reading Monday a bill to remove courts’ ability to rule on the “reasonableness” of governmental decisions.

Speaking at the main demonstration in Tel Aviv, Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari said, “The time to stop the Netanyahu government is now.”

“We are allowed to and must be angry for what the Netanyahu government is doing to the Israeli dream,” he said, and if the government does not stop, it “will learn what happens when we are angry.”

“If you unilaterally pass a single one of your regime coup bills, we will oppose you with every non-violent means we have.”

Harari also tied the government’s judicial overhaul effort to Israel’s military control over  Palestinians in Judea and Samaria, arguing that they both need to be opposed with equal vigor.

A leading Israeli doctor, Hagai Levine, warned that doctors would initiate “strikes” if the reasonability clause was passed.

The organizers of the protests also announced that if the reasonableness clause is reduced on Monday, Tuesday will be declared “the day of resistance” across Israel. As part of it, there will be marches and demonstrations all over the country starting in the morning. At 4:00p.m., a huge demonstration is planned at Ben Gurion Airport. Several technology companies have informed employees that days spent protesting will not be deducted from their vacation time.

During the course of the protest in Tel Aviv, protesters blocked the Ayalon Highway. Police attempted to disperse them with water cannon. A protester lit flares and was arrested for disturbing public order. A motorcycle attempting to drive through the protest struck and injured a protester.

At a similar protest in Herzliya, protesters burned tires and blocked several streets. One protester was arrested for disturbing the peace. All the roads have since been reopened.

A protest demonstration in front of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s (Likud) house was said to include, among others, Chiefs of Staff, senior officials in the Mossad and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), and IDF generals. Several hundred demonstrators attended, hoping that Gallant, who stopped the initial attempts at passing the judicial reforms in April, will once again use his authority to prevent the moves.

Colonel Uri Odi, who was hit in the eye during the demonstration on Wednesday by a police water cannon, sent a video to the protesters: “If I lose an eye, we will win the fight, the price is small and worth it. I was asked if I would return to Kaplan – of course I will, because we are sure that we are right.”

Maj. Gen. (retired) Uri Sagi criticized Prime Minister Netanyahu at a demonstration in Kfar Saba and addressed him, “I was 20 meters from where your late brother Yoni Netanyahu fell. We came back from there. We brought 103 Israeli hostages who were rescued and the body of your brother as well, a hero of Israel. And your people call us terrorist and anarchists? Aren’t you ashamed Bibi?”

MK Tally Gotliv (Likud) criticized the demonstrators: “It seems the protesters are just stupid, forgive me. If they really think that canceling the reasonableness cause is a dictatorship, they are mind-engineered and brainwashed. It is clear to any sane person that the Supreme Court is authorized to intervene in any government decision for reasons of justice, proportionality, violation of human rights, etc. But the disturbed protesters do not allow the facts confuse them… honestly, it’s a shame.”