Severe clashes have been reported on Thursday morning in downtown Tel Aviv, where many roads are blocked as anti-government protesters hold another national day of disruptions, this time dubbed, “Day of Enhanced Opposition.”
Smaller protests have taken place in many parts of the country, including in Haifa, where reserve sailors blocked the entrance to the port. Hundreds of people identifying themselves as reservists were also documented hanging a large placard at a central junction against the government’s proposed judicial reforms, and in central Jerusalem, a wide red-and-pink line of paint was sprayed on several thoroughfares leading to the Supreme Court, symbolizing, so the protesters said, the “unbreakable connection between an independent judicial system and freedom of expression, creativity, leisure, culture, and sport.”
In Tel Aviv, three protesters were detained by police on suspicion of engaging in violence, after they were sprayed with pepper gas. Responding to the alleged incident, opposition head Yair Lapid stated, “The violence against the protesters this morning is growing and spreading. Israeli government, the responsibility is on you. Stop the incitement against the protesters. They are exceptional Israeli patriots and you are responsible for their safety.”

Protests were also held outside several foreign embassies in the city. At one point, the German ambassador to Israel exited the embassy to address the crowd, saying, “You have every right to protest, and Germany is following the debate from up-close. It’s important that friends should debate matters, as the Israeli Prime Minister and the German Chancellor are doing today.”
The organizers of the protests later issued a statement saying, “Instead of coming to a halt, the Netanyahu government has decided to go into high gear with the aim of overthrowing democracy and throwing it into the abyss. This constitutional crisis and rift in the nation will take us to a situation from which there is no going back. Against this headlong dangerous plunge, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been taking to the streets for the past ten weeks, to fight for our home. This is the government’s last chance to stop, bury the legislation, and protect democracy before it is trampled and destroyed.”