At the entrance to the Ben-Gurion Airport train station Tuesday afternoon, protestors expressed their discontent with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial reforms, blowing horns, drumming, and chanting “Demokratia.”
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.
Police Commissioner commends officers' work
Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai spoke on TV Tuesday night, praising the police handling of the day of demonstrations.
“We succeeded in safeguarding the right to protest and balancing between the freedom to protest and freedom of movement as much as possible,” he said.
On KAN 11, he also dismissed concerns that keeping protesters in a cordoned-off area at the airport caused overcrowding and put the protesters in danger.
“This is a misrepresentation. Whoever is complaining about overcrowding can go to the right or left,” he said.
More than just legislation
Several protesters said that the protests were about far more than the reasonability clause legislation.
Yoav, 16, who came to protest with his father, held a sign that read “saving Israeli democracy.” He said that young Israelis like him do not see a future in Israel anymore.
“The current government just doesn’t understand that Israel will always be a liberal country, and if they want to let go of those values, we won’t let that happen,” Yoav said.
An older protester, who asked to be anonymous, said that the country was turning into a “mafia.”
“The people who have been selected to lead the country run it like a mafia, they commit actions that are contrary to everything that is in the Declaration of Independence,” he said. An Israeli by birth, he said that he has never seen such a clear erosion of democracy in Israel.
Another protester, Tami Reich, 66, from Rishon Lezion, shared sentiments of pessimism. “This is very, very difficult. I don’t see a way forward. The future does not look good, I’m not very optimistic, because I feel like the difference between the sides is too big to come together,” she said, alluding to the belief of many protesters that a civil war is looming.
“This time everything is more emotional,” she said. “You can see it with the protesters; you can see it with the police. There’s a lot of violence and more emotion out there.”
Yuval Lerner, standing just outside the entrance, declared that if “we don’t win, I am flying away.” He said that everything this government has done pushed him to come out to protest.
Inside the airport, the environment was quiet – once travelers passed the entrance, they experienced no disruption to their flight. But police held a stalwart border leading into the building, asking passersby where they were going and sometimes for identification.
One traveler, who asked to be anonymous, said that though the protests were “annoying,” she understands the cause. She said she came much earlier to her flight than normal to avoid delays.
Protest leader Josh Drill called the turnout “great,” and attendee Yigal Zror concurred, remarking that more people were present on Tuesday than at the previous week’s protest.
The Israel Airports Authority issued a statement saying that the demonstrations had only minor effects with operations there, with all scheduled flights departing except for one due to a technical problem.
The authority said that some 90,000 travelers passed through the airport and the few delays that took place were due more to the heavy number of passengers than to the protests.