Activists demonstrated outside the High Court of Justice, demanding it not hinder IDF defensive operations on the Gaza border.
By: World Israel News Staff
Bereaved families, wounded IDF veterans and activists from the Im Tirtzu Zionist group demonstrated Monday outside the High Court of Justice in Jerusalem in response to petitions filed by six far-Left NGOs against the IDF’s defensive operations on the Gaza border.
The protestors chained their hands together, demonstrating that the chains represent the High Court’s support for petitions that tie the IDF’s hands.
They pointed out that the NGOs petitioning the Supreme Court are all funded by foreign governments and the US-based New Israel Fund, which has been condemned by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others for allegedly interfering in Israeli internal matters and working against the Jewish state’s interests.
Last week, the far-Left NGOs Yesh Din, Gisha, HaMoked and Association for Civil Rights in Israel submitted a judicial petition against the IDF demanding that it change its rules of engagement in dealing with the violent Gaza riots.
Another petition against the IDF was also submitted by the far-Left NGOs Adalah demanding that the military ban all use of snipers on the Gaza border.
For the past six weeks, the IDF has been fending of Palestinian rioters, and including many terrorists, who have been attempting to infiltrate Israel or carry out terror attacks under the banner of the Hamas-led “March of Return.”
In most cases the IDF deploys crowd-dispersal means, but when threatened or engaging with terrorists, they use accurate live fire.
Michael Oren, a deputy Israeli Cabinet minister, said the protests “are designed to break down the border, and any army is charged with defending a border.” He acknowledged that mistakes might have been made in some of the shootings and that “bullets can do unpredictable things.”
The demonstrators chanted slogans accusing the High Court of working in tandem with far-Left NGOs funded by the New Israel Fund and foreign governments.
‘Defending terrorists’
Herzl and Merav Hajaj, whose daughter Shir Hajaj was murdered last year in a truck ramming attack in Jerusalem, said that “it is absurd that the court continues to accept the petitions of these organizations that work to harm IDF soldiers. We cannot bring our Shir back, but we will continue fighting to ensure that these organizations that defend terrorists won’t be able to continue harming IDF soldiers.”
Liran Baruch, head of the Wounded IDF Veterans Forum, stated that his forum stands in solidarity with IDF soldiers.
“While our soldiers are protecting us, there are those that want to take away their ability to do so,” said Baruch.
Matan Peleg, CEO of Im Tirtzu, said it is “inconceivable that delegitimization organizations are allowed to engage in lawfare against the IDF, courtesy of the New Israel Fund and foreign governments.”
“Rather than acting as the gatekeeper of democracy, the High Court takes advantage of these ridiculous petitions to grab the steering wheel from the government and impose their will on the Israeli people,” he stated.
“This phenomenon does not only endanger the future of Israel, but endangers the lives of IDF soldiers in the immediate future,” added Peleg.
The court is not expected to rule before next week.