Police clear Ayalon Highway after long day of nationwide protests; 45 arrested in all

Tens of thousands gathered across the country to rail against overhaul legislation; leaders of the protest movement launch march to Jerusalem along Route 1

By ToI Staff 19 July 2023, 1:22 am Edit
Police use a water cannon to disperse demonstrators protesting against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to overhaul the judicial system, in Tel Aviv, July 18, 2023. (Ariel Schalit/AP)
Police use a water cannon to disperse demonstrators protesting against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to overhaul the judicial system, in Tel Aviv, July 18, 2023. (Ariel Schalit/AP)

Dozens of people were arrested Tuesday as the latest national day of mass protests against the government’s push to overhaul the judiciary continued late into the night, with police deploying water cannons and mounted officers to clear demonstrators blocking roads.

Tens of thousands took to the streets throughout the country, with protests taking on fresh urgency amid the coalition’s move to pass within days a law curbing courts’ oversight of government decisions. Organizers had called for a national “Day of Resistance” against the bill.

According to police, a total of 45 people were arrested throughout the day.

In Tel Aviv, hundreds of people marched onto the Ayalon Highway around 9 p.m., blocking both directions of the major artery that passes through the city. Police eventually used water cannons and mounted officers to force open the road, one carriageway at a time. The highway was reopened before midnight.

This did not end events, however, with hundreds of activists including leaders of the grassroots protest movement setting out on a nighttime march along the Route 1 highway from Tel Aviv toward Jerusalem.

The group planned to sleep at Ariel Sharon Park and continue in the early morning. Further protest events were planned Wednesday.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who is responsible for police, arrived at the location of the Ayalon protests. The far-right minister, who has called for tough police action against anti-overhaul protesters, was reportedly greeted with cries of “terrorist” (he notoriously holds a past conviction for support of a terror group — the extremist Kach party).

Police were also reported to use water cannons to drive protesters from the Karkur Junction on Route 65, midway between Tel Aviv and Haifa. Police said 16 demonstrators were arrested at the scene.

At Ein HaMifratz Junction on Route 4, north of Haifa, two people were arrested during clashes with police. Ynet reported that three protesters required medical attention after pepper spray was squirted at them from an unidentified individual in a passing car.

There were violent clashes between protesters and police in Jerusalem when demonstrators tried to force their way past police to enter Gaza Street, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a private residence.

A clip shared on social media showed a police officer briefly grabbing a protester by the throat.

In another incident, a 40-year-old protester was seriously injured when she was hit by a car on Route 531 near Raanana. Police said the incident was a road accident, and the driver was detained for questioning.

The day of protests came as the government plowed ahead with legislation that will do away with courts’ ability to strike down cabinet and ministerial decisions over their “unreasonableness,” part of a wide-reaching package of changes to the judiciary that critics say will remove critical fetters on government power and weaken the Supreme Court.

Earlier in the day, demonstrators gathered at train stations across Israel causing disruptions during afternoon commuter hours. Police restricted access to several stations during the afternoon rallies, with hundreds gathering outside Tel Aviv’s HaShalom Station as demonstrators and journalists were barred from entering.

Demonstrators who did manage to get into the station rallied on the platform, with Israel Railways briefly instructing trains not to stop there on the grounds that the protest posed a danger.

Anti-overhaul activists protest against the government’s judicial overhaul at Tel Aviv Hashalom railway station, July 18, 2023. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Officers arrested six protesters who allegedly tried to delay a train.

In the central city of Lod, police kept people out of the station entirely and at Haifa’s Hof HaCarmel Station, a large police presence kept demonstrators off the platforms.

In Binyamina, police allowed protesters to enter the platforms but warned them not to try to block the trains.

Rallies were also held at train stations in Beersheba and Herzliya, where police arrested two on suspicion of disturbing public order.

According to a police statement, officers were instructed to block protesters from the train platforms, citing “a clear danger to life and our role to safeguard the wellbeing and security of citizens.”

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