Anti-overhaul protesters gather at airport’s main terminal; Shabtai: They’re restricted to a specific area

Protesters are starting to gather at Ben Gurion Airport for a demonstration against the judicial overhaul, after the Knesset advanced a related piece of legislation last night.

Although police said demonstrators would be barred from protesting at the main terminal, the protesters are all converging there.

Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai is at the scene to oversee the police preparations. The protesters are restricted to a finite area “where they have the right to protest,” he says. “Whoever uses force against the police, we will use force in return,” he adds in answer to a question.

Shabtai is asked why protesters are at the main Terminal 3 at all, when the police had planned to restrict them to the smaller Terminal 1. “Professional considerations,” he says.

Channel 12 estimates that there are 500 protesters at the airport, with the start time for the protest there still an hour away.

Meanwhile, the UnXeptable anti-overhaul group posts several photos of Israelis at US airports heading home in “Saving Israeli Democracy” shirts.