High Court hears petition accusing the cops of effectively banning anti-war protests

An Israeli civil rights group petitions the High Court of Justice, demanding an end to what they claim is an effective ban on political demonstrations during wartime, after police forcefully dispersed several protests against the government this past week.

The petition heard this afternoon is filed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), which accuses police of effectively barring protests in a “sweeping and systematic” manner since the outbreak of war with Iran over a month ago.

The rights group argues that this trend ramped up in the wake of the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack and subsequent Gaza war, as police began “refusing to give permits for demonstrations and hindering protests, especially those whose core is a critical stance toward the war or government.”

“Free expression does not recede during wartime,” petitioners write. “Especially in times of distress and emergency, it is known to have unique importance.”

The organization files the petition on behalf of Itamar Greenberg, a student arrested twice in the past week for partaking in demonstrations against the Iran war and the recently passed death penalty law.

Heading a three-judge panel, Chief Justice Isaac Amit hints at a double standard in police enforcement of the IDF’s wartime guidelines. He notes that protesters in Habima Square — a frequent location for Tel Aviv demonstrations, which has a large underground parking lot — are relatively safe compared to pedestrians on the city’s coastal promenade, or those shopping at the mall.

“At Habima [Square], the situation is excellent; there’s a parking lot there. It could be that there are people who come to demonstrate because the parking lot is much better than what they have at home,” he says.

Assistant Commissioner Tzachi Sharabi, the Yarkon precinct’s police commander, who on Saturday night gave the order to disperse a Tel Aviv protest against the war, says he decided to do so after he “saw the number of people and the amount continuing to arrive” at Habima.

“Even if Habima is a location that has seen many protests, our ability to lead one to two thousand people within a minute-and-a-half to several parking lot entrances, this is something different,” he says.

Oded Feller, the petitioning attorney, argues protesters have more time to shelter before Iranian missile fire as opposed to attacks from Lebanon or Gaza, due to the Home Front Command’s advanced phone warnings.

He argues throughout the hearing that police have used “disproportionate force” to break up the demonstrations in question, at times injuring protesters and journalists by forcefully shoving them to the ground and directly blasting them with a water cannon.

At the end of the hearing, the judges decide that the two parties must come to an agreement on how to guarantee protesters’ rights in light of the Home Front Command’s wartime guidelines. Tomorrow morning, Avi Milikowsky, the attorney representing the state, will deliver an official position to the petitioners on holding Saturday night protests in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and Kfar Saba.