Knesset begins debate ahead of vote on restricting demonstrations

The Knesset plenum begins a debate ahead of a parliamentary vote to allow the government to restrict protests during the coronavirus pandemic.

The existing law says demonstrations must be allowed.

Lawmakers will vote on the amendment that paves the way for the government to ban protesters from gathering beyond a kilometer (0.6 miles) from their homes and in groups of more than 20 during the upcoming lockdown beginning on Friday afternoon.

During Wednesday’s acrimonious government meeting on the issue, a compromise was reached allowing for continued protests outside the Prime Minister’s Residence on Balfour Street in Jerusalem, where demonstrators have gathered regularly for months to call for Netanyahu’s resignation.

A team from the police, the Health Ministry and the attorney general’s office developed a framework allowing for up to 2,000 protesters to take part in the Balfour Street demonstrations. As with prayer gatherings and protests elsewhere in the country, they will be divided into 20-person “capsules” and keep two meters’ distance from each other. All protesters at Balfour must live within a kilometer of the site in downtown Jerusalem.