JERUSALEM, Israel – As the terror group Hezbollah’s operatives were occupying a tent set up on what Israel claims as its territory on the northern border Tuesday, thousands of Israeli demonstrators were taking part in a “Day of Disruption” to protest a Knesset vote on judicial reform.
They blocked roads on major highways and city streets, and delayed activity at Ben Gurion Airport, Israel’s main travel artery to the world.
External threats to the country from Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran’s nuclear buildup and its use of proxies in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, along with the fomenting of trouble from Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the West Bank and Gaza, provide enough opposition for any government to contend with.
Yet the internal protest movement, whose stated goal is the fall of the coalition, has taken to the streets on a weekly and sometimes daily basis since the Netanyahu government was formed last December, adding another significant layer of difficulty for the prime minister.
The airport protests, during which thousands of demonstrators clashed with police, were cleared by Israel’s Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, a fierce critic of the government’s judicial reform efforts, who wrote in a statement that the airport “is a public space and therefore every person has the right to freedom of speech and protest in this place as well.”
She went on to say, “Neither the Director of the Israel Airports Authority nor any other body has any authority under the law to prevent the entry of people into the airport solely on the basis of the fact that they do not have plane tickets for that day.”
That drew a sharp response from Netanyahu coalition members. Israel National News quoted one senior official, who said the attorney general’s airport protest decision “legitimizes turning Israeli citizens into hostages of an extremist minority. She sets a new standard according to which protests in support of a personal position trump the freedom of movement to and from Israel, while harming unacceptably hundreds of thousands of families who paid good money for a vacation which they waited a long time for.”
Transportation Minister Miri Regev insisted, “Ben Gurion Airport is not a mall and it is not a public space – it is a strategic national asset, which requires sensitive and complex handling when faced with the ongoing flight challenges and the flight challenges in emergency situations.”
Regev added, “I expected the attorney general to allow proper behavior at the facility and not to lend a hand to those violating the law, whose behavior may even lead to the endangerment of human lives.” She promised to change the law regarding airport demonstrations.
The debate over airport security is just one facet of the protest. Several hundred Israeli Defense Forces cyber reservists opposed to judicial reform signed a letter saying they will now refuse to serve if called up, according to The Jerusalem Post. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the reservists were “giving a prize to our enemies,” and added that only an “unqualified showing up to accomplish any assigned mission” could keep the military intact and ensure Israel’s security.
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