Israel Police officers threw stun grenades into a crowd of protesters on Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv early on Wednesday afternoon in an effort to disperse the protests and clear the highway.
A source present at the protests told the Jerusalem Post that one of the protesters was injured after a stun grenade hit him on the side of his head. According to the source, he was evacuated from the scene for medical treatment, and there is a concern that he may have lost his ear.
Protest organizers criticized the police dispersal methods, calling the system morally bankrupt and accused them of becoming "a political police force."
"The commissioner should fire those responsible for the failure today," the statement read. "Throwing grenades and trampling protesters for democracy with horses is crossing the black line. Shame on the state of Israel.
"We must stop the coup d'état because if the laws of the dictatorship are passed, the violence against demonstrators will be a matter of routine, if it will be possible to demonstrate at all."
An unnamed apache pilot in reserve IDF services and now an El Al pilot, was arrested at the protests at the Kfar Hayarok junction near Ramat Hasharon. According to him and eyewitnesses, he was there as part of the demonstrations to photograph the event and had not acted out when he was taken forcefully by the police.
Road closures and rail delays
Israel's "national day of disruption" kicked off early on Wednesday morning as protesters demonstrated at the entrance to Jerusalem in the middle of Highway 1 shortly before 8 a.m., preventing traffic from moving.
Police were said to be working at the scene to redirect traffic and restore order and the road was reopened to traffic at 8:20 a.m.
The nationwide protests were scheduled to be held as the government's legislative committee votes to pass the second part of the judicial reform which includes the override clause that allows the government to override High Court of Justice rulings with a Knesset majority of 61 MKs.
Demonstraters closing roads to protest Israeli judicial reform
Following a situational assessment between National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Police Chief Kobi Shabtai and the Jerusalem and Tel Aviv district commander and deputy commander, Ben-Gvir issued a statement against the move by protesters to close roads.
"The blocking of central roads must not be allowed, and all of the anarchists' blockades must be opened," he said. "I am in favor of democratic protest, but we will not allow civil riots and we will not allow anarchists to block major roads."
He added that he had informed police across the country to reopen roads if they are blocked by protests.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid responded to Ben-Gvir via Twitter, saying that "the minister of TikTok and pita is confused again. The only anarchy is that of the most insane government in Israel's history.
"The demonstrators this morning are patriots and lovers of Israel who want to keep it democratic and free."
Elsewhere in the country, protesters attempted to disrupt the arrival and departure of trains at the Tel Aviv Hagana train station.
"Over the last hour, there have been a number of intentional disruptions to the closing of the doors on some trains when they stop at stations, and as a result, the trains are delayed and there are disruptions to movement and travel," Israel Railways said in a statement. "We ask all passengers to allow safe and regular journeys to continue."
Later on Wednesday morning, Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv was closed to traffic as protesters began to block the road.
Coalition MKs and ministers were quick to criticize the actions taken, with Minister in the Welfare and Social Affairs Ministry Yoav Ben-Tzur (Shas) tweeting that: "We must not allow law-breaking anarchists to shut down the country by blocking main roads and preventing citizens from getting to where they want to go. This is not a protest, this is a violation of the law."
"We must not allow law-breaking anarchists to shut down the country by blocking main roads and preventing citizens from getting to where they want to go. This is not a protest, this is a violation of the law."
Yoav Ben-Tzur
Aliyah and Integration Minister Ofir Sofer tweeted criticism of the protesters, and accused them of acting "like the last of the anarchists."
"Protest is part of democracy," he added. "Anarchy is not."