High Court of Justice on Friday, April 10, ordered police to allow significantly more participants at anti-war and anti-government protests planned for this weekend in Tel Aviv and Haifa, expanding attendance beyond limits set by the military.
The ruling, which followed a hearing on petitions to lift wartime restrictions, sets minimum attendance of 150 protestors in Haifa and 1,000 in Tel Aviv, overriding the army’s Home Front Command caps ahead of Saturday evening rallies. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), petitions the High Court of Justice, demanding an end of the ban on political demonstrations during wartime, after police forcefully dispersed several protests on the past weeks. ACRI filed the court on behalf of Itamar Greenberg, a student and leading Hadash activist arrested in the past weeks in the demonstrations against the Iran war and the recently passed death penalty law.
Hadash protest against imperialist war and far-right government in Kafr Yassif, Western Galilee near the Lebanese border, April 4, 2026 (Photo: Zo Haderekh)
Last Saturday, the court issued an interim order obliging police to allow up to 600 protesters in Tel Aviv just hours before the protests began, though police said the demonstration quickly exceeded the limit and declared the event unlawful, violently dispersing the crowd and making 17 arrests.
After the court’s interim order last week, several senior government figures, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, assailed the court for allowing “left-wing demonstrations but not Jewish worship at the Western Wall.” Justice Minister Yariv Levin went even further, calling on the far-right government to ignore the court and enforce the restrictions anyway. Religious leaders also joined in, with Sephardic Chief Rabbi David Yosef branding the court as an “enemy of Judaism,” largely for the fact that it issued its ruling on Shabbat.
It should be noted that protest vigils against the “eternal war” and the far-right government took place yesterday at the Tivon Junction, Nachshon Junction, and Drorim Mall. Today, numerous additional protests will be held in Tel Aviv: Habima Square at 19:30; Jerusalem: Paris Square at 19:30; Haifa: The corner of Allenby and Haparsim streets at 17:00, and Horev Center at 19:00; Be’er Sheva: The Arts Center at 20:00; Kafr Yassif near the “Delek” gas station at 12:00; Deir al-Asad Junction: Peace Square (Kikar HaShalom) at 17:00; Kiryat Ono: Maccabit Bridge at 18:00; Petah Tikva, Goren Square at 20:00; Kfar Saba: Weizmann-Sokolov Junction at 18:00; Herzliya: Seven Stars Mall at 12:00. Karkur Junction: at 18:30; Modi’in: The mall plaza at 20:00; Zichron Ya’akov: at 19:30; Kfar Yehoshua Bridge: At 17:00; Eshkol: Ma’on Junction at 17:00; Sha’ar HaNegev: at 18:00; Haogen Junction: at 18:00; Tzemach Junction: at 1; Upper Galilee: Hagomeh Junction at 17:30; Ne’urim Bridge: at 17:30; Beit Hashita: at 17:00 and the Northern Negev in Halukim Junction at 17:00.
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=33353
