Hundreds rally against overhaul in New York
Luke Tress is The Times of Israel's New York correspondent.
While rallies against the overhaul in Israel are ending, in New York, Israeli expats and allies are keeping the flame alive outside the Israeli consulate.
Around 200 people are demonstrating from a cordoned off area across from the consulate on 2nd Avenue in Manhattan. The crowd is made up of both Israelis and non-Israeli US Jews.
Waving signs and flags, the mostly older crowd chants “Yariv Levin, Israel is not Poland,” “democracy or rebellion,” and “shame” in Hebrew.
— Gili Getz #SaveMasaferYatta (@giligetz) July 11, 2023
Among the protesters are a group wearing the distinct red hooded robes made famous by dystopian work “The Handmaid’s Tale,” and adopted by anti-overhaul protesters.
????In front of the Israeli consulate in New York pic.twitter.com/KlV1v1PCn2
— Noga Tarnopolsky נגה טרנופולסקי نوغا ترنوبولسكي???? (@NTarnopolsky) July 11, 2023
Moran Zer Katzenstein, a leader of the Building an Alternative women’s protest group in Israel, is also in the crowd as part of a visit to connect with Israeli activists abroad.
Speakers urge continued support from the Biden administration, due to fears police will more violently crack down on demonstrators in Tel Aviv after the departure of the city’s moderate police chief.
Protest leaders claim spontaneous rallies broke out throughout the day in ex-pat communities in cities around the world, including in the US, Europe and Australia.