COVID-19 Protests in Israel

By the summer of 2020, Israel was experiencing a second COVID-19 wave described as significantly larger than the first spring wave. The renewed outbreak coincided with serious economic difficulties, and some estimates placed summer unemployment above 20 percent.[1]

The economic toll was severe and unevenly distributed. An August 2020 INSS survey found that 52 percent of respondents reported economic damage from the pandemic and restrictions, 44 percent reported harm to their mental health, and 16 percent reported harm to their physical health.[2] Among those surveyed, 9 percent were jobless or had been forced to close a business, 7 percent had been placed on unpaid leave, and 22 percent had experienced reduced working hours.[2] Economic damage was reported substantially more often by Arab respondents — 83 percent — than by Jewish respondents, at 46 percent.[2]

Confidence in political leadership fell sharply during this period. Confidence in the prime minister dropped from 57 percent in April 2020 to 29 percent in July, recovering only slightly to 35 percent in August.[2] By August, 70 percent of survey respondents distrusted the government, 74 percent distrusted the Knesset, 70 percent blamed politicians for the crisis, and 60 percent specifically blamed the prime minister.[2]

The protests combined pandemic and economic grievances with opposition to Netanyahu while he was standing trial on corruption-related charges.[1] The Knesset responded to economic concerns in July 2020 by enacting a $1.9 billion stimulus plan intended to provide cash payments to Israeli citizens.[1]

Early Demonstrations and the First Lockdown

Protest activity began during Israel's first lockdown. On March 19, 2020, demonstrators used a convoy of more than 100 vehicles to travel toward Jerusalem to oppose the closure of the Knesset, with organizers describing the action as an effort to "save Israel's democracy" against measures they believed were being taken under the cover of pandemic prevention.[3]

In April 2020, several Haredi communities held sometimes-violent protests against restrictions that closed synagogues, schools, and yeshivas and banned communal prayer quorums. In Beit Shemesh on April 20, hundreds of ultra-Orthodox residents protested these closures; some wore yellow Stars of David and compared the Israeli government to the Soviet Union. Police dispersed demonstrators blocking a main road with riot-control measures and detained several people.[4] These protests took place amid anger over strict closures in Bnei Brak and ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods of Jerusalem — areas heavily affected by the virus.[4]

The Summer Protest Movement

Beginning in July 2020, the demonstrations expanded dramatically in scale and focus. On July 11, approximately 10,000 people, according to organizers, gathered at Tel Aviv's Rabin Square in a protest described as noisy but largely peaceful.[5] Participants included small-business owners, freelancers, self-employed workers, entertainment and hospitality employees, domestic-tourism operators, and university students. They demanded promised financial assistance, fair compensation, faster payments, and a long-term economic plan, arguing that government bureaucracy and delayed aid had left many without livelihoods. After the main rally dispersed, scuffles broke out near the Azrieli junction when demonstrators attempted to block traffic, and approximately three to five people were reportedly arrested.[5]

By mid-July, the movement had merged economic grievances with direct political opposition to Netanyahu. On July 21, more than 2,000 people gathered outside Netanyahu's Jerusalem residence; protesters criticized the government's handling of the pandemic and its economic fallout, demanded Netanyahu's resignation over his graft indictment, opposed repeated restaurant closures, and objected to proposed coronavirus legislation that would have allowed government measures without Knesset approval. At around 1 a.m., police used mounted officers and water cannons to clear Paris Square; at least 34 people were arrested for disturbing the peace and attacking officers, all of whom were released the following day.[6]

At the height of the movement in mid-2020, tens of thousands demonstrated in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, while thousands more displayed black flags and protest signs at bridges and intersections throughout the country.[7] The central Jerusalem protest site was outside the prime minister's official residence on Balfour Street; related demonstrations also took place outside the Netanyahus' private home in Caesarea and at highway overpasses nationwide.[7] The Black Flag movement stated that every day Netanyahu remained prime minister cost the Israeli economy billions of shekels and called on him to prioritize citizens rather than himself.[8] Protesters used the Hebrew word for "Go" as a slogan, painting it across Tel Aviv's Rabin Square.[8]

The August 2020 INSS survey captured the political breadth of sympathy for the movement: 53 percent of respondents identified with the demonstrations, against 43 percent who did not.[9] Identification was 90 percent among left-wing respondents, 75 percent among centrists, 65 percent among Arab respondents, 37 percent among the moderate right, and 24 percent among the right.[9] Fifty-seven percent of respondents believed that legal demonstrations and protests could influence Israel's agenda to a great or some extent.[2]

Netanyahu questioned the protests' authenticity and characterized them as orchestrated by anarchists and left-of-center groups.[1] Opposition figures, including Yair Lapid, supported nonviolent protest as a means of opposing Netanyahu's continued rule.[1] The demonstrations produced threats, incidents of violence, property destruction involving protesters and counter-protesters, and allegations that police used heavy-handed crowd-control measures.[1]

The Supreme Court Ruling and Continued Demonstrations

On August 19, 2020, Israel's Supreme Court authorized demonstrations near Netanyahu's official residence to continue.[10] Justice Uzi Fogelman described the inconvenience to local residents as a "necessary evil" required to uphold the right to demonstrate.[10] The INSS described the preservation of demonstrations during the emergency as part of democratic resilience, noting that Israel's COVID-19 emergency regulations explicitly omitted demonstrations from the list of prohibited gatherings.[11]

The second nationwide lockdown, announced in September 2020, was followed by more extensive public protests.[12] After new daily infections had reached approximately 7,000, an all-night Knesset debate on September 29–30 produced emergency legislation restricting attendance at demonstrations more than one kilometer from a person's home. Hundreds protested outside the Knesset against the restriction itself.[13] The State Department subsequently summarized the amendment as imposing a one-half-mile residence limit and a maximum group size of 20 for 14 days; it reported that the government announced on October 12 that the distance restriction would not be extended beyond October 13.[14] These accounts describe closely related legislative and regulatory steps using slightly different distance measurements.

Netanyahu said the limitations were driven by public-safety concerns, while critics accused the government of tightening the lockdown to suppress dissent.[13] Opposition leader Yair Lapid called the measure a blow to democracy.[13]

With large rallies in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv restricted, protests shifted to smaller gatherings at intersections and bridges throughout the country.[7] On October 8, hundreds gathered at Habima Square in Tel Aviv and marched toward Jaffa despite the kilometer restriction; at least two demonstrators were arrested, two others were detained and released, and police issued dozens of tickets for alleged mask violations and traveling too far from home.[8] The Black Flag movement announced that more than 1,000 demonstrations had taken place across Israel and called for larger demonstrations the following Saturday.[8]

On October 3, police had already arrested 35 protesters during demonstrations in Tel Aviv, citing alleged violations of social-distancing requirements, the residence-distance limit, and the requirement to wear personal protective equipment; protest groups characterized many of the arrests as arbitrary.[14]

A distinct and parallel strand of protest activity ran through Israel's Haredi ultra-Orthodox communities throughout the pandemic. It was shaped by disputes over religious and state authority rather than primarily by opposition to Netanyahu's continued leadership.[15][16]

During the first wave, authorities had difficulty enforcing emergency regulations in Haredi areas. The Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem reportedly continued operating in mid-March 2020 with thousands of students crowded together, while police and municipal inspectors closed some yeshivas operating in violation of regulations.[15] A Jewish Review of Books essay reported that Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky opposed closing Haredi schools after the government banned school gatherings. Some institutions continued operating later in March, although increased police enforcement led many to close; extremist groups continued to ignore restrictions.[17] Senior ministers Yaakov Litzman and Aryeh Deri sought to keep synagogues open for as long as possible.[16]

In mid-April 2020, the Israeli government designated several predominantly Haredi Jerusalem neighborhoods as restricted areas, including Kiryat Belz, Kiryat Sanz, and Romema.[15] Haredi residents perceived police enforcement as selective, particularly when visibly Haredi residents were stopped at roadblocks while other residents were allowed to pass.[15] Police repeatedly attempted to disperse gatherings in Mea She'arim during March and April, and children were among those reported injured in the confrontations.[15]

Following several lockdowns specifically imposed on Haredi neighborhoods, mass protests erupted in Jerusalem's Romema neighborhood at the beginning of July 2020, developing into violent clashes between police and protesters; both children and adults were reportedly injured.[15] The Association for Civil Rights in Israel asked the minister responsible for internal security to investigate the police violence used to disperse these gatherings.[15] The Jerusalem Institute report also noted that most interviewees said the majority of Jerusalem's Haredi population observed health regulations, with many institutions closing and events being canceled.[15]

According to Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, claims that Haredi neighborhoods alone were being locked down and subjected to extra enforcement encouraged additional residents to join demonstrations, shifting the dispute from a public-health issue toward a conflict over political power, rights, obligations, and sectoral identity.[15] One interviewee in the Jerusalem Institute report contrasted the treatment of religious gatherings with the Balfour Street demonstrations: "Every week on Saturday night a demonstration at Balfour with 10,000 people is okay, while here even the synagogue is closed."[15]

The restrictions and their enforcement deepened existing tensions between Haredi communities and broader Israeli society. Haredi residents reported feeling excluded, negatively labeled, and discriminated against, while other Israelis expressed anger over perceived violations of health regulations.[15] The Jerusalem Institute characterized the pandemic response as intensifying an existing conflict over political authority and the use of public space in Jerusalem.[15]

A Jewish Review of Books essay described a Belzer wedding held in early August 2020, attended by several thousand people, as causing an uproar across Israel.[16] The same essay stated that Haredi municipal leaders were eventually forced to hand effective control of their towns and cities to the army to enforce public-health policy.[16] A separate June 2020 essay reported that Bnei Brak, where schools, yeshivas, and synagogues had remained open too long, accounted for approximately 16 percent of Israeli COVID-19 cases and a comparable percentage of fatalities while comprising about 2 percent of the country's population; Israel's total death toll was then approximately 300.[17]

Police faced the difficult task of enforcing health instructions while maintaining public order and protecting legal demonstrations. Analyses reported perceptions of uneven enforcement, declining public trust, and difficulty achieving consistent conduct across changing protest situations.[18]

On April 14, 2020, police fined two demonstrators in Kfar Saba for allegedly gathering illegally; the protesters said they had remained seven feet apart and viewed the fines as an attempt to deter protected political activity.[14] A recording published on July 26 captured Jerusalem District Police Commander Doron Yadid stating that police had fined 160 people for not wearing masks during a demonstration near the prime minister's residence.[14]

At a July 24 protest outside the prime minister's residence, video showed a water cannon spraying a protester in the face even though police regulations prohibited that specific action.[14] The Knesset's Internal Affairs and Environment Committee held hearings on police tactics and demanded publication of a revised procedure for water-cannon use.[14]

On August 22, 2020, during a demonstration near the prime minister's residence, Chief Superintendent Niso Guetta struck a protester, dragged him on the ground, and hit a photographer. Two protesters were arrested for allegedly attacking Guetta, but the State Department report said video footage showed that the officer's attack was unprovoked; the protesters were subsequently released. The prosecution indicted Guetta for assault on November 29, 2020.[14]

A law passed in April 2020 and subsequent emergency regulations permitted demonstrations to continue provided that participants maintained social distancing.[14] The U.S. State Department reported that police nonetheless imposed additional limitations on peaceful assembly in several instances, including fines, identification checks, registration of protesters, filming with private cell phones, and use of undercover officers.[14]

The September–October 2020 residence-distance restriction generated its own legal battle. The government defended the measure as a public-health restriction intended to curb infections, while opponents alleged that it was meant to suppress anti-Netanyahu demonstrations.[13] The High Court of Justice subsequently ruled in case HCJ 6312/20 and related petitions that the one-kilometer limitation failed constitutional tests for restricting fundamental rights; the Court ordered that all fines issued under the rules be canceled and barred the government from imposing the same type of restriction in the future.[7][19]

The residence-distance restriction lapsed after October 13, 2020, and the broader protest movement continued as the pandemic evolved.[14][7] The INSS linked the growing protests, rising friction with the ultra-Orthodox community, and diminishing public trust in authorities during this period partly to the government's handling of a multilayered crisis, arguing that politicization and inconsistent enforcement had weakened the public's willingness to comply with restrictions.[12]

In February 2021, several hundred people demonstrated in Tel Aviv against vaccination requirements and Israel's green-pass system, which gave vaccinated individuals and recovered COVID-19 patients greater access to public venues.[20] Protesters described the system as discriminatory, demanded greater government transparency, and opposed legislation allowing the Health Ministry to provide local authorities with personal details of unvaccinated residents.[20] Some demonstrators compared green passes and vaccination requirements to Nazi persecution, displaying or wearing yellow-star imagery; Yad Vashem condemned what it called the "demagogic abuse of Holocaust imagery and language."[20]

On February 14, 2022, a locally organized Israeli "Freedom Convoy," inspired by the Canadian convoy movement, sent trucks, tractors, cars, and motorcycles from cities across Israel toward the Knesset and bridges around the country.[21] Organizers called for repeal of the state of emergency and the "major corona law," an end to mask mandates and testing requirements, reopening of the economy, disclosure of government contracts and health protocols, an end to alleged privacy violations, and unconditional respect for individual rights regardless of vaccination status.[21] Their statement said the latest morbidity wave had exposed government mismanagement and created a crisis of public confidence.[21]

The COVID-19 protests in Israel were notable for their scale, duration, and political complexity. The INSS described them as unusual in scope compared with previous Israeli protest cycles and linked their emergence to a convergence of factors: declining confidence in the prime minister and political institutions, perceived failure to contain the virus, inconsistent government decision-making, and a broader socioeconomic crisis.[2]

The survey data captured a society under acute stress. Forty-two percent of respondents in August 2020 believed the protests should be escalated to achieve change, while 52 percent disagreed; support for escalation was 76 percent among the left, 56 percent in the center, 25 percent among the moderate right, and 22 percent among the right.[9] The INSS also described most demonstrations as not expressly violent. Eighty-five percent of Jewish respondents rejected the proposition that violence was justified to attain social or political aims, and 88 percent rejected the legitimacy of using force against people demonstrating against the government.[2]

The protests raised durable questions about democratic governance under emergency conditions. The INSS argued that freedom of expression and the ability to criticize authorities should be preserved during emergencies, and that restrictions on assembly must be necessary rather than a mechanism for silencing legitimate criticism.[11] The High Court later invalidated the one-kilometer limitation, canceled fines imposed under it, and barred the government from imposing the same type of restriction in the future.[7][19]

The intersection of pandemic politics with Netanyahu's corruption trial gave the protests an intensity beyond typical public-health disputes. The breadth of sympathy across ethnic and political lines reflected the reach of the combined health, economic, and governance grievances. The Haredi protest strand added a separate dimension, illustrating how enforcement perceived as selective could help transform a public-health dispute into a broader conflict over communal rights and state authority.[15]

Several aspects of the protests remained contested throughout and after the events. Netanyahu characterized the demonstrations as orchestrated by anarchists and left-of-center groups rather than representing authentic public sentiment, while the government defended protest restrictions as public-health measures. Opponents accused authorities of exploiting lockdown rules to suppress political dissent.[1][13]

Accounts of police conduct — including alleged arbitrary arrests, excessive force, water-cannon use in violation of internal regulations, and the August 22 assault by Chief Superintendent Guetta — were disputed at various stages by police, protesters, and political leaders.[14] The perceived unevenness of enforcement, both at anti-government demonstrations and in Haredi neighborhoods, generated separate allegations of selective policing from communities with very different political orientations.[18][15]

The use of Holocaust imagery by some Haredi protesters in Beit Shemesh in April 2020 and by some anti-vaccination demonstrators in February 2021 drew condemnation; Yad Vashem specifically criticized the comparison of COVID-19 restrictions or green passes to Nazi persecution as a distortion and abuse of Holocaust memory.[4][20]

The reported figures attributing approximately 16 percent of national COVID-19 cases to Bnei Brak — a city comprising about 2 percent of Israel's population — are presented as stated by a contemporaneous Jewish Review of Books essay and have not been independently reconciled across datasets.[17]