Shas, Otzma Yehudit slam High Court for ordering police to allow anti-war protests

By Sam Sokol 4 April 2026, 8:54 pm

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Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

The ultra-Orthodox Shas and far-right Otzma Yehudit parties condemn the High Court of Justice’s decision to issue an interim order obliging police to allow protests in Tel Aviv and other locations, complaining that the nation’s highest court violated Shabbat to permit mass demonstrations against the war while keeping Jewish holy sites closed.

“The trampling of the sanctity of Shabbat and the Hours of Work and Rest Law by the High Court’s decision, issued in the middle of the holy sabbath, which allowed the gathering of hundreds of anarchist protesters in Habima Square contrary to Home Front Command guidelines while the Western Wall and holy sites remain closed, testifies to a severe detachment, arrogance and haughtiness of those sitting in their ivory tower,” says Shas, pledging to file a complaint against the judges involved in the decision following the Passover holiday.

In a separate statement, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party asserts that the ruling will “endanger the protesters, police and fighters.”

“The Home Front Command does not allow worshipers to show up at the Temple Mount, Western Wall and other holy sites yet the High Court on Shabbat issues another decision that harms the security of officers and citizens,” the party says, accusing the court of “allowing protesters to show contempt for the law just because they are protesting against the state of Israel.”

Are judges who issue such rulings “on Israel’s side?” the party asks.

Despite the court’s ruling, the police are currently dispersing a protest outside Tel Aviv’s Habima theater, according to Hebrew media reports.