Momentum is building on Kaplan Street, as crowds of protestors gather for the 27th week of demonstrations.
Intersections across the country were blocked by protestors before police dispersed them, including Kaplan, Karkur, Yigal Alon, and HaShalom junctions. Police also put out a statement saying they will show “zero tolerance” towards protestors who attempt to damage infrastructure or symbols of the state or attempt to harm police officers.
A new protest exhibit was set up near IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, in which the families of fallen soldiers erected a sign made of their medals saying “Lashav” (for nothing). The sign was surrounded by multiple pages with “for nothing” written in the middle and surrounded by text from the families naming who they lost and saying they lost them for nothing.
A protest instillation outside IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, July 7 2023. (credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/MAARIV)Former public security minister Omer Barlev spoke to protestors at the Science Park intersection in Rehovot.
“The disintegration of the state continues with the support of the government ministers and it is happening every day in Judea and Samaria, by those who are called the ‘Hilltop Youth’,” he said. “They are not the Hilltop Youth but a private militia, of fascist anarchists who do not recognize the laws of the country. They are the golem that rose up against its creator, or in a more contemporary term – ‘the settler Wagner force’.”
“If on Monday the bill passes, we will stop the country from functioning,” said Sara Yitzchaki, one of the leaders of the student protest.
“We have exams tomorrow, and we’re here protesting,” she continues. “We’re not going anywhere.”
“I hope that we can convince the heads of academic institutions to go on strike if the law passes in parliament,” said Bar Yakula, head of the student protest. “We hope young people will join us.”
Judicial reform protests in New York
Some 150 anti-judicial reform activists sailed in New York toward the Statue of Liberty on a “Freedom” ferry, waved Israeli flags and hung a “Must resist” banner on the boat on Saturday.
On Friday night, the organizers of the New York protest wrote in a post that “we cannot sit at home while our family and friends are fighting for us all on the frontlines.”
The organizers expected 20-30 participants on the ferry but were surprised when almost 150 Israelis and American Jews showed up to take part.
Israeli and Jewish protestors demonstrate aboard a ‘Freedom’ in New York City. (credit: LIRI AGAMI, ROI BOSHI)“On the Statue of Liberty there is a poem by a Jewish poet,” said Shani Granot-Lobton, one of the organizers. “We wore black because a terrible black flag is being waved over the legislative blitz and the unforgivable violence against protestors. All our hearts are with Israel, and we are sending from her wind to the sails of those fighting for liberty and democracy and are protecting our future with their bodies and souls.”
Granot-Lobton added that “the Statue of Liberty symbolizes the mutual values of Israel and the US. Even though [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu chose to protest by not wishing the US a happy independence day, our big sister has always been Israel’s number one ally.
“We won’t allow the government of destruction to destroy our ties with the diaspora. We will continue to show the beautiful, democratic and liberal face of Israel.
Isaac Mintz contributed to this report.
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