Right-wing protesters recall Gaza Disengagement as reason legal overhaul is needed

A group of 13-year-old girls tie orange ribbons around their heads, the symbol used in 2005 by opponents of the Disengagement Plan, which saw the evacuation of all settlements in the Gaza Strip and several in the northern West Bank.

While Avigayil and her friends were not yet born during the 2005 unilateral withdrawal, she says the Disengagement is “big part of our lives” and part of why her family supports the current government’s judicial overhaul plan.

Many pro-settlement Israelis blame the High Court of Justice for taking a heavy hand with anti-Disengagement protesters and upholding decisions to uproot the communities, now largely in Palestinian hands.

Alongside chanting “the people want judicial reform,” groups also shout: “Where were you in Gush Katif,” recalling Israel’s settlement bloc in Gaza. They sing the tune that anti-overhaul protesters used to denounce a settlement rampage last month in the Palestinian West Bank town of Huwara following a deadly Palestinian terror attack there.