'Day of Resistance': Demonstrators take to the Ayalon Highway

At the entrance to the Ben-Gurion Airport train station Tuesday afternoon, blowing horns, drumming, and chanting “Demokratia.” The environment was deafening, with most protesters and policemen wearing earplugs.

Many protesters carried Israeli flags, turning the station into a sea of blue and white.

Police and protesters engaged in a standoff on either side of the barricades as police tried to establish a square where airport travelers could walk freely. Once police decided to clear an area, every protester in that space – including women, children, and elderly people – were pushed back. Sometimes, this led to violent clashes where protesters were pushed down to the ground.

Protesters blocked roads across Israel and demonstrated at Ben-Gurion Airport and additional locations on Tuesday, in a "Day of Resistance" in protest against the reasonableness standard bill passing its first reading in Knesset on Monday night.

 
73 protesters were arrested by Israel Police for disturbing the peace, as of Tuesday evening. 45 of those have already been released, according to police. Of the 73 detained, 33 were arrested during the demonstrations in Tel Aviv, 23 were arrested in other areas in central Israel (including seven at Ben-Gurion Airport), and seven were arrested in locations along the northern coastal region. 

Singer Aviv Geffen was arrested on Tuesday evening by Israel Police while participating in the large-scale judicial reform protests on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv as part of the widespread "Day of Resistance." 

Hazaz Street in Jerusalem was blocked off in the direction of Ben Tsvi Blvd. as judicial reform protesters marched there during the "Day of Resistance" on Tuesday evening.  Per the police, the march was set to pass through Ben Tsvi Blvd., Rabin Street, and Zusman Street.

According to witnesses at the scene, police (including Border Police) stood by along the intersection of Herzog Street and Hazaz Street, forming a wall to contain the demonstrators. Interactions between police and protesters were kept civil. 

Car and bus horns blared trying to get by the swarms of people. 

The IDF reservist protest movement was back in full swing on Tuesday following the Knesset’s Monday night approval of a first reading of the government’s repeal of the judiciary’s reasonableness doctrine, with IDF intelligence Unit 8200 and the air force leading the way.

300 members of the IDF’s various cyber and technology arms signed a letter saying that they were no longer bluffing and that they would now refuse to show up for reserve duty when called.

This could be the furthest that these officials have gone to date since the last battle over the government’s judicial reform policy in March stopped at a point before the reservists’ self-declared line had been crossed.

Protesters against the government's judicial reform took to the streets on Tuesday for "Day of Resistance," during which time they rallied in front of the United States embassy in Tel Aviv, according to Israeli media. 

A police officer struck a protester at Ben-Gurion Airport on Tuesday afternoon, breaking his nose, according to Walla citing protest organizers. 

Tuesday's "Day of Resistance" saw bouts of violence, with two people alleged by the police to have attacked officers. One, a journalist, was claimed by police to have punched an officer. Police also claimed that one person in Jerusalem had hit a police horse with a wooden stick. The police reported that a flare was lit under a police car in the Kaplan street area in Tel Aviv, at the heart of the protests.

Protester groups said that police acted violently and aggressively during the multiple exchanges, pushing demonstrators to the ground and using excessive physical force to move them. Water cannons were employed despite recent warnings by medical practitioners about the damage that they could do.

Thousands of people gathered at Ben-Gurion Airport on Tuesday afternoon as part of the anti-judicial reform protests which took place nationwide. 

Due to operational challenges, the protest was relocated from its original place in Terminal 1 to Terminal 3, following a direct ruling from Attorney-General allowing the change.

Thousands of protesters flooded the streets of Israel on Tuesday as they marked a "Day of Resistance" in response to the Reasonableness Standard Bill passing its first reading in Knesset on Monday night.

From the north of the country to the south, demonstrators clashed with police, blocked roads and marched with the Israeli flag - which has become a symbol of the anti-government protests - held high in the sky.

Anti-judicial reform protests at Ben-Gurion Airport are not prohibited by law but Israel Police and the Airport Authority can set limits on the demonstrations, the Attorney-General's Office said on Tuesday amid renewed mass rallies against the advancement of reasonableness standard legislation.

Ben-Gurion Airport is a public place open to all citizens to express themselves and demonstrate, Deputy-Attorney General Avital Sompolinsky wrote on Tuesday morning, but its importance to the broader public and sensitivity to safety and security concerns also had to be taken into account.

"These unique characteristics should be reflected in the framework of the concrete balances that must be made in relation to the time, location and character of the protests on the spot," said Sompolinsky.