Israelis block Ayalon again at end of third 'Day of Disruption'

Thousands of people marched with torches in Tel Aviv in protest of the judicial reform on Thursday night.

Israel Police closed roads to accommodate the march.

Israelis and Jews in New York City protested against the judicial reform outside of the Israeli consulate in the city on Thursday. 

Protestors carried signs in Hebrew and English calling for democracy and an end to the reform.

Hundreds protested the judicial reform outside of the German parliament on Thursday while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Berlin and met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Protestors carried signs in English, Hebrew and German calling for democracy.

"When you want to go to battle, do it in an optimal state. If we go to a referendum while we did not do well enough from an advocacy standpoint, it is clear that we are not in an optimal state," Culture and Sports Minister Micky Zohar said in an interview on 103FM on Thursday.

The November election, in which the current coalition won 64 seats, served as a referendum, and therefore another one was not needed, Zohar added.

Zohar expressed his disappointment with President Isaac Herzog's compromise proposal to end the conflict over the reform, which the president presented on Wednesday night.

"I expected that the president's directive would be more relevant, with an option to discuss it seriously. Unfortunately, the directive that was presented is not relevant – we promised a reform, not extending the current situation," Zohar said.

The minister said that he did not support the call to halt the current legislation, saying instead that talks could be held while negotiating.

"If we stop the legislation, the chaos will continue for many more months, and there needs to be an attempt to end the whole saga in this [Knesset] sitting [until April 2]," Zohar added.

Demonstration leaders claimed on Thursday that there was an attempt to run over a protester at Bet Yehoshua Junction. "As the president warned yesterday, we are one step away from civil war," they said in a statement. "The one stirring up passions is Benjamin Netanyahu- he is responsible." 

Israel Police opened an investigation into the incident, according to the Police spokesperson. Per the Israel Police press statement, a vehicle was seen driving onto an island where protesters were standing. They also confirmed that there were no casualties.

זה נהיה אלים: תיעוד - רכב עולה על אי תנועה ודוהר לעבר מפגינים בצומת בשרון
(אורלי אלקלעי) pic.twitter.com/8zN7NqYRK9

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) March 16, 2023

Roads across Israel were closed to traffic on Thursday morning in light of the nation's third "Day of Disruption" as Israelis throughout the country stage protests against the judicial reforms. 

Protesters blocked the exit off the Ayalon highway during judicial reform demonstrations on Thursday morning, according to Israeli media.

"It is not the outline of my dreams," said National Unity Party head Benny Gantz in a statement to the press on Thursday morning in response to President Isaac Herzog's outline for judicial reform compromise released the previous evening, "but it must be used either as a comprehensive compromise or as the basis to stop [the legislation] and [begin] dialogue. The extremists in the government are tearing us apart from the inside," he said.

Gantz called on Netanyahu to cease the judicial reform process.

"Faced with the possibility of security deterioration on several fronts, there must not be a civil war. We must stop legislation until at least the end of Ramadan," he said.

"We always succeeded because we had a shared story … The coup d'etat is a dangerous threat coming from within us, and it is breaking the shared story," he said.

The former defense minister also called on members of the Likud to speak up, calling them "silent monks."

"Every proposal for compromise was countered by people whose extreme ideology erases the values of the state of Israel and endangers its future as a Jewish, democratic, strong, safe and just state," he said.

"It is still not too late to say – the state of Israel is more important than the politics of fear. The state of Israel needs the politics of Zionism," Gantz said.

He concluded by calling on citizens to set out and protest lawfully.

"Like in the past – the state of Israel will win, its values will win, its citizens will win. Our hope has not ended and we will always endure in our determination to be a free people – and the people are stronger than any government."

"The violence against protestors is growing. Government of Israel – you bear responsibility! Stop the incitement against the protestors, they are wonderful Israeli patriots and you are responsible for their safety," opposition leader MK Yair Lapid wrote on Twitter on Thursday in response to reports of assaults against protestors.

האלימות כלפי המפגינים הבוקר הולכת וגוברת. ממשלת ישראל - האחריות עלייך! הפסיקו את ההסתה נגד המפגינים, הם פטריוטים ישראלים מופלאים ואתם אחראים לבטחונם.

— יאיר לפיד - Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) March 16, 2023

Labor leader Mk Merav Michaeli also commented.

"Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators at protests for Israeli democracy. For the heart of the country. Netanyahu, if you think that your militias with tear gas will stop the largest and most important protest in Israel's history - you will be surprised by the strength of determination and resistance. At the end of the day, you will lose and the people will win. There will be no dictatorship in Israel," she wrote.

Widespread judicial reform protests began early on Thursday morning across the country in Israel's third "Day of Disruption:

Demonstrations in Tel Aviv are expected to follow this schedule: 

• 10 a.m. Protestors will gather outside the embassies of the United States, Britain, France and Germany in Tel Aviv. There will also be a "Religious Zionist Democratic" demonstration in Azrieli
• 11 a.m.  A "torch march" run by representatives from the "world of culture" will take place at HaBima Square. Additionally, there will be a hi-tech protest in Tel Aviv's Sarona area.
• 12 p.m. Protest in front of the Weizmann Institute
• 12:30 p.m. Protest of medical professionals
• 4 p.m. Demonstration at the Kirya in Tel Aviv
• 7 p.m. "Torch march" at HaBima square