The Israeli government minister responsible for overseeing the justice system is dismissing a ruling of the nation’s highest court that would allow larger protests during wartime.
The high court issued an interim ruling on Saturday that allows for up to 600 citizens to gather for anti-war protests in Tel Aviv, a massive increase from the 50-person limit imposed by Home Front Command due to the risk of Iranian attacks.
The court found that the government’s limit was inconsistently enforced, with shopping malls and other public areas largely unaffected by the war restrictions.
The court’s interim decision also allows up to 150 individuals to gather for anti-war protests in the cities of Jerusalem, Haifa, and Kfar Saba.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin said on Sunday that the Cabinet has “no choice” but to ignore the court’s “reckless” interim ruling and instruct law enforcement to continue enforcing the public gathering restrictions.
“I believe that the Cabinet has no choice but to act to prevent the very clear danger to human life and public safety,” Levin said, adding that a “proposal for a resolution should be presented to the Cabinet, whereby the police and all relevant entities will be instructed to uphold the Home Front Command’s directives as given, including regarding gatherings and demonstrations.”
He called the judges’ verdict a “serious deviation from the court’s authority” and an “illegal intervention in security considerations.”
The national bans on public gatherings have affected more than just political protesters — the enhanced security situation has also frustrated orthodox Jews seeking to pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
Former Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef called on God to kill the high court judges for failing to push back on the gathering restrictions at the Judaic holy site, saying, “If they hold a protest in [Tel Aviv] with 600 people, then they should allow 600 people at the Western Wall.
“All our troubles in religious matters with the state, including conscription of yeshiva students, are all because of these wicked judges,” Yosef said. “May [God] destroy and kill them.”
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The high court is also tied up in a contentious legal debate regarding a law passed by the Knesset last week, which would make death by hanging the default sentence for non-Israeli Palestinians tried in military court convicted of certain terrorist-related crimes.
Critics claim the law is designed in such a way that it intentionally targets Palestinians and illicitly bolsters Israeli authority over the West Bank.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voted for the law, which ultimately passed 62-48 after hours of fierce debate.