At least 15 people were detained by the Israel Police Monday afternoon for disturbing public order after breaking into Ben-Gurion International Airport’s main terminal (terminal 3) and demonstrating there against the government-planned judicial overhaul. More than 1,000 police officers are deployed at the airport area.
About 200 protesters entered the building on the ground floor where arriving passengers exit. Most of them were eventually evacuated by the police. Videos published by the protest movement showed police attempting to carry and drag away demonstrators from inside the building. Pictures also showed demonstrators with bleeding noses. Some of the protesters sat on the ground or lay down to prevent being removed from the site. Resisting efforts by police to evacuate them, the protesters who penetrated the building sang the Israeli national anthem “Hatikva” and shouted “democracy.”
A spokesperson for the Israel Police said that “the police emphasize that this is a blatant violation of public order, harming the security roads and an attack on officers, and we’ll work to bring down the full severity of the law on those involved.”
“DEMOCRACY OR REBELLION!” at Ben Gurion airport pic.twitter.com/vvbZ2UvCDj
— Noga Tarnopolsky נגה טרנופולסקי نوغا ترنوبولسكي💙 (@NTarnopolsky) July 3, 2023
Thousands of people arrived Monday afternoon at the airport area to disturb incoming and outgoing traffic and paralyze the airport just as summer vacation began. The protesters arrived one hour earlier than the time originally scheduled for the demonstration in an attempt to surprise the police and advance as much as possible toward the main terminal. Giant traffic jams were created on the road leading to the airport compound and inside the compound. Protesters lined both sides of the service road leading from the entrance of the airport compound to the terminal building and also completely filled the parking area situated just outside the arrival floor.
Most flights departed on time or with relatively small delays during the first two hours of the demonstration. But later in the evening, flights were delayed much longer because of the chaos at the airport and the inability of passengers to reach it. With the demonstration announced well ahead, many of the departing passengers chose to arrive at the airport by train instead of their own cars or taxis.
Organizers of the demonstration complained about police preventing many from arriving at the airport, saying they infringed on the citizens’ democratic right to protest. Unnamed officials at the Airport Authority told Israel’s public broadcaster KAN that the agreement reached beforehand with the organizers of the protest movement as to how the demonstration would take place had completely collapsed, as protesters didn’t obey the rules agreed upon to minimize disturbance for departing passengers.
