‘Day of Disruption’ across Israel following vote on reasonableness bill

Demonstrators protesting the judicial reforms blocked roads across Israel on Tuesday morning after the bill to limit judicial review. The Reasonableness Standard Bill passed its first reading in the Knesset plenum by a vote of 64 to 56 on Monday night.

Israel Police used water cannons to disperse a group of demonstrators blocking Israel's busy highway, Route 1, between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

A group of veterans from the 1973 Yom Kippur War were also removed from Ben-Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv after gathering in the Arrivals Hall to protest.

The group waved Israeli flags, carried balloons and sang Israel's national anthem, HaTikva.

“We decided that we would come this morning to greet those entering the State of Israel. We came with flowers, with balloons of the Israeli flag and hearts and we sang, not once, but several times the ‘HaTikva’ and we greeted all the passengers,” said veteran Eyal Yaffe, who participated in the protest.

The veterans were joined by the "Building an Alternative" women’s protest group, many of whom wore costumes from “The Handmaid’s Tale."

In Herzliya, a group of protesters burned tires in the middle of a busy junction before being dispersed by the Israel Police.

In addition, a small group of protesters began to gather outside the Knesset building in Jerusalem on Tuesday morning, with additional protests planned throughout the day in various cities across Israel in what is being called a 'Day of Disruption' by local media outlets.

At the time of publication, Israeli police announced they had arrested 42 protesters for disturbing the peace.

The head of the Histadrut Labor Union called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “stop the chaos," and confirmed it is ready to take action.

“Stop the crazy chaos in Israeli society as soon as possible. The ball is in your court. When the situation reaches an extreme and all other paths have been taken, we will intervene and use our power,” said the head of the labor union, Arnon Bar-David.

In March, Histadrut called for a general strike following Netanyahu’s firing of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The strike and protests after Gallant’s firing led Netanyahu to call a temporary halt to the judicial reform legislation in order to pursue negotiations. Those negotiations have not produced any tangible results so far.

The Reasonableness Standard Bill will return to the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee later today to prepare for a second and third reading in the parliament building.

The coalition is trying to pass the bill before the deadline at the end of July.