High court lifts restrictions on protests outside AG’s home

8 October 2017, 2:10 pm

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The High Court of Justice rules that the weekly demonstrations outside the home of Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit can continue unrestricted.

In her ruling, incoming court president Justice Esther Hayut says Mandelblit is not exempt from public criticism, and that critiquing the state and public figures is “the lifeblood of democracy.”

She says the demonstrations held every Saturday night in Petah Tikvah are about “the right to freedom of expression, which is at the heart of fundamental freedoms in a democratic state.”

In recent months, a growing number of Israelis have been protesting against what they call Mandelblit’s slow handling of a number of graft cases involving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his family.