'National disruption day' in Israel: Where will the protests take place?

A "national disruption day" is planned on Wednesday as part of protests against the judicial reform.

The protests are planned to be held as the government's legislative committee votes to pass the second part of the judicial reform which includes the override clause that allows the government to override High Court of Justice rulings with a Knesset majority of 61 MKs.

The first main protest of the day began at 8 a.m. as parents and students protested outside dozens of educational institutions around the country.

This will be followed by a protest outside of the State of Israel Museum in Tel Aviv titled "Operation Order - Remove Security" where speakers will "explain to [Defense Minister Yoav] Gallant what democracy and national strength is." Speakers include former IDF chief of staff Dan Halutz, former Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin and former Defense Ministry director-general of the Dan Harel.

This location was chosen because, at the time of the protest, the Institute for National Security Research will hold a conference that will be attended by Gallant and other Likud members.

Following the protest, a march of students and professors will leave the museum and another march will start at Dizengoff in Tel Aviv an hour later.

The next organized protest will be held by people in the hi-tech sector at Sarona in Tel Aviv. 

At 2 p.m., healthcare officials who have marched out of hospitals around the country will hold a protest organized by the No Health without Democracy organization. The protest will be attended by doctors, mental health officials, social workers, academics, medical teams and other citizens.

"All the essential signs attest to the fact that the situation in the country is deteriorating and that public health will be harmed shortly because of the coup d'etat," said the organizers of the medical protest. "We are in a national emergency, and this is our duty."

'National disruption day' to end with a protest outside Netanyahu's home

The day will culminate with a protest in the evening outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's home in Jerusalem. The Crime Minister movement demanded of Israel Police to allow the protestors closer to the home than usual and not keep them hundreds of meters away.

"Tomorrow, we will disrupt the public order in the face of a government that tries to disrupt the democratic order," said the organizers of the protests. "Tens of thousands will go out to act around the country in order to stop the coup d'etat that does not have the support of the people. There is no security, the economy is collapsing, the people are tearing apart. In the face of the government's damage, the people will bring Israel back to the way of the Declaration of Independence."

A major nationwide protest was also held the day the committee passed the first part of the judicial reform as well as the day it passed the first of three readings in the Knesset plenum. On the morning of the plenum reading, protestors gathered outside the homes of coalition MKs to try to stop them from getting to the Knesset to attend the committee vote, but it is unclear if Wednesday's protests will include a similar plan.  

Appeal to the president

On Tuesday, a group of former defense officials sent a letter to President Isaac Herzog appealing to him to get involved to stop the judicial reform from progressing further.

"We call to you, Mr. President, to announce unambiguously that you will not lend a hand or your support as the nation's president to harming the democracy and the judicial system," they wrote.

The letter was signed by former Shin Bet chiefs Nadav Argaman, Diskin, Karmi Gilon, Yaakov Perry and Reuven Hazak; former IDF chiefs of staff Ehud Barak, Moshe (Bogi) Yaalon, Halutz, Dan Tolkovsky and Eitan Ben Eliyahu, Former Mossad chiefs Tamir Fardo and Uzi Arad and former member of the committee for nuclear energy Dr. Udi Nazar.