Petition to permit mass demonstrations delayed at High Court

The court gave the government until October 7 to respond to a petition to permit mass protests and did not even set a hearing date.

By YONAH JEREMY BOB
Israeli police officers detain a demonstrator during a protest against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, outside the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem on September 29, 2020. (photo credit: OLIVIER FITOUSSI/FLASH90)
Israeli police officers detain a demonstrator during a protest against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, outside the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem on September 29, 2020.
(photo credit: OLIVIER FITOUSSI/FLASH90)
The High Court of Justice on Wednesday gave little help to the protest movement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, slow-walking their petition to strike down new corona-era limits on demonstrations.
The court gave the government until October 7 to respond to a petition to permit mass protests and did not even set a hearing date.
On Tuesday, the Knesset passed an amendment to the corona emergency powers law, granting the government the authority to block mass protests for between one and three weeks, with an option to extend the ban for another two weeks with additional Knesset approval.
Protests are still allowed for up to 20 people within a kilometer of a person’s residence, but the amendment will prevent mass protests near the prime minister’s Balfour residence as has occurred every weekend in recent months.
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel petitioned the High Court to intervene on an emergency basis so that protests could continue this coming weekend.
They said that the key to the protests being effective was their unbroken consistency, accusing Netanyahu of using the virus as an excuse to crack down on dissent.
With the October 7 response date and no hearing date set, the High Court essentially signaled that it will likely wait out the petition at least until the initial three weeks pass, and possibly longer.
Still, it is possible the High Court may put pressure on the government if it tries to extend the initial three-week period to five weeks with Knesset approval.
The High Court used a similar strategy in the spring regarding Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) surveillance of coronavirus-infected citizens, avoiding issuing a ruling for nearly six weeks.
By the time the court issued an order pressuring the government about the legality of the surveillance, the situation had gotten less serious and the state was more ready to compromise – though incidentally, the government later reinstated the surveillance program when the second coronavirus wave picked up.
The Jerusalem Post was also told by sources that Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit agrees with the petitioners' view that the government must still enact regulations for its ban on mass protests to fully go into effect.
This appears to be inevitable and is merely a procedural measure as the government need only issue the new regulations, but some protesters were discussing trying to protest this weekend if the regulations are not issued some significant amount of time in advance.