Senior Israel Police officials have recently expressed their concern privately that things in Israel's ongoing judicial reform crisis could reach a boiling point that could resemble a civil war, Israel Hayom has learned. They have been sounding the alarm in the wake of intelligence showing that the escalating protests could result in increased friction between the two sides, and as a result, the police have begun preparing "contingency teams" that would be sent to separate the two warring groups in such instances.
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The police have been following the messages being communicated among right-wing activists in various social media platforms urging them to increase their presence and actively block entrances to kibbutzim as a counterweight to the massive protests against the judicial reform.
Video: Protesters against the judicial reform near the US Embassy Branch Office / שב״פ, נורית צינס
"It's going to get more violent and more severe," a senior police officer told Israel Hayom on Thursday. He added, "We will separate the two sides, we won't let kibbutzim be blocked, as this will require us to deal with an entire difference theater of operations." The officer said that the response teams will be deployed based on the number of right-wing protests and according to the list they have managed to glean from social media of kibbutzim likely to be targeted. "There have already been cases of violence," the officer noted.
Anti-judicial reform protesters announced Thursday that another "day of disturbance" will take place on Monday as the legislation appears to be heading for a final Knesset vote. "This is the time to ratchet up the resistance pressure so that our house won't fall," they said ina statement.
Meanwhile, a prominent right-wing activist told Israel Hayom that the counter-demonstrations will include various events "that will build up to the main pro-reform protest on July 23, a day before the vote in the plenum." He said that supporters of the bills will arrive at the homes of ministers "to show solidarity, but we are also going to reach the homes of the anti-reform protest leaders at 5 a.m. and wake them up with a sit-in, just like they have been doing to us." The Im Tirtzu right-wing watchdog said that the goal of the counter-protests is not to threaten but to show that there is a need for equal enforcement before the law.
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