Police fail to gain control of main anti-overhaul protest, as Tel Aviv highway blocked

Naomi Lanzkron is a news editor at The Times of Israel

Protesters block Tel Aviv's Ayalon Highway on July 24, 2023. (Naomi Lanzkron/ Times of Israel)
Protesters block Tel Aviv's Ayalon Highway on July 24, 2023. (Naomi Lanzkron/ Times of Israel)

Thousands of demonstrators block Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway at the Hashalom Interchange by Kaplan Street — the focal point of the Tel Aviv protests against the government’s contentious judicial overhaul.

Crowds on the bridge above the highway cheer as others stream down the streets parallel to the Ayalon, trying to find a way to reach the road via the embankments after police blocked the entrances with trucks and metal barriers.

Demonstrators stand amid the traffic as they block the Ayalon Highway during a protest rally against the government’s judicial overhaul, in Tel Aviv on July 24, 2023. (Jack Guez / AFP)

Multiple bonfires are lit on Kaplan Street and a water cannon begins to move toward the crowd at one end of the road, apparently ahead of its use by police to disperse the demonstrators who have blocked the road for well over three hours.

Demonstrators gather at a bonfire as they block the Ayalon Highway during a protest rally against the Israeli government’s judicial reform, in Tel Aviv on July 24, 2023. (Jack Guez / AFP)

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