As Columbia University students returned for the fall semester, they were greeted by renewed protests and heightened security measures outside the iconic New York City campus, according to reporting by the BBC.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered at the school gates on Tuesday, the first day of classes, chanting "Free Palestine" and banging drums as they marched in circles. Many protesters wore traditional keffiyeh scarves covering their faces.

The scene was reminiscent of last semester's large-scale demonstrations against Israel's anti-terrorism operation in Gaza, which saw some of the most intense campus protests in the US.

Inside the campus, the Alma Mater statue outside Low Memorial Library was doused with red paint. CBS News, the BBC's US partner, reported that the area was cordoned off as crews worked to clean the statue.

Police reported at least two arrests on Tuesday but described the gatherings as "peaceful" overall.

Students and staff queued to have their identification thoroughly checked before entering campus, while protesters and onlookers were separated by metal barricades.

Many students appeared unfazed by the demonstrations. Stephanie Lee, a 28-year-old graduate student studying business, said she expected protests but felt "OK" on her first day. "Security is pretty good," she added.

Rachel Black, a freshman from North Carolina, viewed the protests as part of her educational experience at Columbia. "I'm interested in becoming more educated," she said. "I'm hoping to learn what the conflict [is] about."

The university's previous academic year ended tumultuously, with New York Police Department raids on a pro-Palestinian encampment and the brief occupation of an academic building, resulting in over 100 arrests. The main graduation ceremony was canceled, and students departed for summer break amid an atmosphere of unease.

Last month, Columbia president Minouche Shafik, who had authorized the police raid on the encampment, resigned from her position.

David Lederer, a 22-year-old junior, held a small counter-protest with a fellow Jewish student outside the university gates. They displayed a large banner reading "Get Support for Terrorism Off Our Campus" and a photo of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old Israeli-American hostage whose body was recently recovered in Gaza.

Lederer expressed concerns shared by some pro-Israel Jewish students about antisemitism on campus, stating, "To be anti-war is one thing, but to be pro a terrorist organization is another, and that has no place at Columbia."

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A group of pro-Palestinian protesters attempted to disrupt a baseball game in Baltimore, sparking a heated reaction from other fans in the stands. The incident, captured on video and widely shared on social media, underscores the ongoing tensions surrounding the war against the Hamas terror organization in the Gaza Strip and its impact on public events in the United States.

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Several demonstrators tried to interrupt the game, but their efforts were met with angry responses from other spectators in the stands.

Videos circulating on social media show the protesters holding Palestinian flags and chanting "Free Palestine."

The reaction from other fans was swift and forceful. Spectators can be heard shouting "Get out of here" and more explicit expletives at the demonstrators.

While freedom of expression is a protected right in the US, disrupting sporting events or other public gatherings is often met with resistance from both organizers and attendees who prefer to keep politics separate from entertainment.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was released from the hospital Monday after an emergency heart procedure, facing an unprecedented national crisis ahead of the Knesset's vote on the first major piece of legislation to reform the country's justice system.

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Anti-reform demonstrators stepped up their Opposition, blocking a road leading up to the Knesset and businesses shuttered their doors in protest of the vote.

The judicial overhaul has divided Israel, testing the delicate social ties that bind the country, rattling the cohesion of its powerful military and repeatedly drawing concern from even its closest ally, the United States.

Video: Anti-reform protests in Jerusalem. Credit: Yoni Rikner

Efforts to find a last-ditch compromise were underway, with President Isaac Herzog shuttling between the sides, including a meeting at the hospital where Netanyahu was treated, to find an agreement on the way forward. But it was unclear whether those would result in a compromise ahead of the vote, expected Monday afternoon.

Early Monday, protesters banging on drums and blowing horns blocked a road leading to the Knesset, and police used water cannons to push them back. The protest movement said one of its leaders was arrested.

Israeli media reported that a consortium of businesses announced late Sunday that some of their members wouldn't open on Monday in protest at the government's plans, leading to big mall chains and some gas stations sealing their doors.

The dramatic events were being watched closely in Washington, from where the Biden administration has frequently spoken out against Netanyahu's government and its overhaul plan. In a statement to the news site Axios late Sunday, Biden warned against pushing ahead with the legal changes that were sparking so much division.

"Given the range of threats and challenges confronting Israel right now, it doesn't make sense for Israeli leaders to rush this – the focus should be on pulling people together and finding consensus," he told the site.

Netanyahu's sudden hospitalization for the implant of a pacemaker added another dizzying twist to an already dramatic series of events that have bitterly divided his country and are certain to shape Israel's future.

Netanyahu's doctors said Sunday the procedure had gone smoothly. In a short video statement from the hospital late Sunday, Netanyahu, 73, said he felt fine and thanked his doctors for his treatment and the public for wishing him well.

Wearing a white dress shirt and dark blazer, Netanyahu said he was pursuing a compromise with his opponents while also preparing for a vote on Monday that would enshrine a key piece of the legislation into law.

"I want you to know that tomorrow morning I'm joining my colleagues at the Knesset," he said.

The overhaul calls for sweeping changes aimed at curbing the powers of the judiciary, from limiting the Supreme Court's ability to challenge parliamentary decisions to changing the way judges are selected.

Netanyahu and his allies say the changes are needed to curb the powers of unelected judges. Their opponents, coming largely from Israel's professional middle class, say the plan will destroy the country's fragile system of checks and balances and push Israel toward authoritarian rule.

The plan has triggered seven months of mass protests, drawn harsh criticism from business and medical leaders, and a fast-rising number of military reservists in key units have said they will stop reporting for duty if the plan passes, raising concern that Israel's security could be threatened.

Herzog, who returned Sunday from a trip to the White House, immediately rushed to Netanyahu's hospital room.

"This is a time of emergency," Herzog said. "We have to reach an agreement."

Herzog held meetings later Sunday with Israel's opposition leader, Yair Lapid, and Benny Gantz, head of National Unity, another opposition party.

As they spoke, tens of thousands of people gathered for mass rallies for and against the plan. Netanyahu's supporters thronged central Tel Aviv – normally the setting for anti-government protests – while his opponents marched on the Knesset.

Many of the protesters in Jerusalem had camped out in a nearby park, after completing a four-day march into the city from Tel Aviv on Saturday.

Further ratcheting up the pressure on the prime minister, thousands of military reservists have been declaring their refusal to serve under a government taking steps that they see as setting the country on a path to dictatorship. Those moves have prompted fears that the military's preparedness could be compromised.

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"These are dangerous cracks," military chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi wrote in a letter to soldiers Sunday meant to address the tensions. "If we will not be a strong and cohesive military, if the best do not serve in the IDF, we will no longer be able to exist as a country in the region."

Despite the attempts to project business as usual, Netanyahu's schedule was disrupted by his hospitalization. His weekly Cabinet meeting scheduled for Sunday morning was postponed. Two upcoming overseas trips, to Cyprus and Turkey, were being rescheduled, his office said.

In Monday's vote, legislators are to decide on an overhaul measure that would prevent judges from striking down government decisions on the basis that they are "unreasonable."

Proponents say the current "reasonability" standard gives judges excessive powers over decision-making by elected officials. Critics say removing it would allow the government to pass arbitrary decisions, make improper appointments or firings and open the door to corruption.

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Energy Minister Israel Katz harshly criticized anti-judicial reform protesters this week after they allegedly spit on his jacket during an event in Tel Aviv.

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Katz addressed the crowd during a ceremony in honor of 100 years since the first street lights were lit in the city. He was interrupted by demonstrators, who shouted "shame" and threw insults at the lawmaker, and reportedly kept accosting him all the way to his car.

Video: Ryan Gelbert

Tonight I participated in the ceremony of light, "but in front of me stood the protesters of the darkness who screamed and cursed and it turns out also spat. I will not be deterred by violence masquerading as democracy. I will continue to build the country according to my way and vision," Katz wrote on Twitter.

Transport Minister Miri Regev concurred, saying, "I strongly condemn the attack this evening against Israel Katz. The State Attorney's Office will – of course – ignore, the media will normalize [this] and the Left will embrace the lawbreakers, but we will win. And I say to all my friends on the Right – leadership is being tested in these moments. We came to govern and not to apologize."

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Tens of thousands of Israelis turned out on Saturday to the weekly protest in Tel Aviv against a contentious judicial reform, in the 23rd weekend of such rallies.

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Israeli media estimated that some 80,000 attended the main rally on Kaplan Street, along with thousands of others in numerous locations around the country where smaller rallies were held. In Tel Aviv, many roads were closed to traffic due to the protests.

Some protesters held signs taking the government to task over alleged inaction on a soaring crime wave that has affected the country's Arab sector. Since the start of the year, some 100 people have been killed in crime-related violence in Arab Israeli communities, according to NGOs.

The government's reform proposals would curtail the authority of the Supreme Court and give politicians greater powers over the selection of judges.

The government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a coalition between his Likud party and hard-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies, argues that changes are needed to rebalance powers between lawmakers and the judiciary.

This article was first published by i24NEWS.

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Israelis opposing the judicial reform rallied in Tel Aviv Saturday for the twenty-second consecutive week.

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An estimated 95,000 protesters attended the main rally on Kaplan Street, and several smaller demonstrations were held in other cities, including Jerusalem and Haifa.

Critics of the legislation say it would hurt Israel's delicate system of checks and balances, whereas supporters of the bills say it would balance the power of the Supreme Court, bringing Israel more in line with other democratic nations.

Video: Shany Granot-Lubaton

In March, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put the reform on hold to give way to negotiations with the Opposition. Led by President Isaac Herzog, the talks are yet to yield substantial results.

At the beginning of the event, demonstrators commemorated three IDF shot dead by an Egyptian policeman in a cross-border attack earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, head of the Knesset Law and Justice Committee Simcha Rothman came under fire this week after grabbing a megaphone from the hands of an anti-reform protester in New York.

Rothman later said that demonstrators were "violent" and shoved him and his wife and wished them dead.

Rothman, one of the main driving forces behind the judicial reform, traveled to New York to celebrate the annual Celebrate Israel Parade on Sunday.

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Tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets Saturday to protest against the proposed judicial reform for the 18th consecutive week.

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The protests have been held on a weekly basis for most of the year and they continued despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announcing in March that he was postponing the proposals to reach a compromise agreement.

At a protest in Tel Aviv, demonstrators marched across the city to Kaplan Street, brandishing Israeli flags and chanting anti-Netanyahu slogans. One protester held aloft a large picture of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir with a caption dubbing him "the minister of national failure."

Organizers of the protests say they want to ramp up the pressure on the government and lawmakers after the Knesset resumed its work this week following a month-long recess.

Critics say the judicial reform will harm Israeli democracy, while proponents say the legislation is crucial to restore balance between the branches of the government.

The plan plunged Israel into one of its worst domestic crises, ripping open longstanding societal rifts and creating new ones. While the freeze in the legislation eased tensions somewhat, Netanyahu's allies are pushing him to move ahead on the overhaul.

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Protesters against the judicial reform made good on their promise to step up efforts and demonstrated in several dozen locations across Israel on Thursday, causing disruptions, including in Tel Aviv, where the Ayalon Highway, the main artery traversing thee Tel Aviv metropolis, was blocked.

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With the Knesset back in session and the controversial legislation back on the agenda, organizers vowed to increase demonstration activities unless the bill is stopped entirely.

The legislation was put on hold by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of the Knesset recess in early March to give way for negotiations with the Opposition, which are yet to yield results.

Video: Reservists protest in Jerusalem

Dubbed the "Day of Equality," Thursday's protests revolved around the Coalition's plans to legislate blanket military service exemptions for Haredi yeshiva students.

Demonstrations were held in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak as well as outside the homes of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Reservists also held a protest in Jerusalem opposing the planned exemption.

Around 300 people also demonstrated outside the homes of President Isaac Herzog.

In the evening, protests are planned by college students as well as outside the home of Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who is spearheading the reform.

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An estimated 200,000 Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv Saturday night to protest against the government's planned judicial reform for the 17th consecutive weekend.

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"We are just getting started," read one banner. "History has its eyes on you," said another. Demonstrators also lit flares and brandished Israeli flags and anti-reform banners.

Protests were also held in Haifa, Kfar Saba and Netanya.

Video: Judicial reform protest in Haifa (Omri Rosenberg)

Over the past few weeks, protests both against and in support of the legislation, have been held countrywide, especially in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Opponents fear the reform will threaten Israeli democracy and give the government unbridled powers, while proponents say it will rein in the power of the Supreme Court and create balance between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.

The legislation was put on hold by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of the Knesset recess in late March to give way for negotiations with the Opposition. Led by President Isaac Herzog, the talks have seen no major breakthroughs yet.

As the Knesset prepares to reopen for its summer session on Sunday, protest organizers vowed to step up activities by holding a "national equality day" on Thursday.

"The protest movement will fight for equality in service of the state and in economic contribution, and for all those who are financially harmed by the government's actions," they said in a statement, referring to plans by the government to exempt all ultra-Orthodox men from mandatory military service. "The days in which one side serves the state and also finances the yeshivas, while [the government] tries to establish a halachic dictatorship here, are over."

i24NEWS contributed to this report.

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The "March of the Million" near the Knesset in Jerusalem on Thursday evening may not have hit its target (organizers say 600,000 attended; police say 200,000), but it succeeded in putting to bed Opposition claims that Israelis are united against judicial reform. It also provided much-needed backing to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's beleaguered government.

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Supporters of reform have been slow to respond to months of protests against it, which have forced the coalition back on its heels, leading Netanyahu to pause the process and enter into negotiations with the opposition under the auspices of President Isaac Herzog. Those favoring reform worry that the result will be a watered-down version of the legislation. Among the crowd's chants at the rally: "Stop being afraid" and "We don't want compromise."

Of the many politicians and right-wing figures who addressed the assembled, the biggest cheers went to the chief architects of judicial reform: Justice Minister Yariv Levin of Likud and Knesset Member Simcha Rothman of the Religious Zionism Party, who chairs the parliament's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.

"Over two million Israelis voted six months ago in the real referendum: the election. They voted in favor of legal reform," Levin declared. "We are here on this stage with 64 mandates to right an injustice. No more inequality, no one-sided judicial system, no court whose judges are above the Knesset and above the government.

"We are told that if the reform passes there will be a dictatorship. There is no bigger lie than that. Show me a single democracy in which the legal advisers decide [government policy] instead of the government," Levin said, adding to cheers, "I will do everything in my power to bring the desired change to the judicial system.

"If someone were to tell me a few years ago that in 2023 there would be such a broad consensus in Israeli society for the need for judicial reform and that the situation today isn't democratic, I would have told him he was delusional," Rothman said. "Correcting the judicial system is my life's mission and I will continue to promote it in every way."

Likud MK Avichay Boaron acted as master of ceremonies. "The purpose of the demonstration is to remind and demand from our elected officials in the government and the coalition that the people want judicial reform, that the people are behind them, that the people give them strength," he said.

Netanyahu, who didn't attend for security reasons, tweeted, "I am deeply moved by the tremendous support of the national camp that came to Jerusalem this evening en masse. All of us, 64 mandates that brought on our victory, are first-class citizens. You warmed my heart very much, and I thank each and every one of you."

Twenty-nine NGOs sponsored the protest, foremost among them Tekuma 23, an NGO founded by political activist Berale Crombie together with Boaron. Its mission is to build support for judicial reform in the wake of the protests against it.

The pro-reform rally was different in tone from its anti-reform counterparts, which are grim affairs with warnings of pending dictatorship, clashes with police, solemn torchlit marches and women dressed as Margaret Atwood-inspired handmaids with heads lowered. This rally was boisterous, resembling a giant block party. Music pumped through large speaker systems. Protesters danced and sang. Strangers backslapped one another. It was festive. The optimism was palpable.

Encountering Herzl Hajaj of Choosing Life, a forum of Israeli terror victims and bereaved families, JNS asked him to explain the difference.

"The Right is always happier," he said. "There's a lot of money driving the Left's protests. The folks who make all the noise and confusion do it for a payment. People here have left work. They came from Eilat, Metulla, Dimona because their hearts are with this government."

Another notable difference was the age of the protesters. At Thursday's rally, youth was the rule with thousands of teens in attendance. Young families with infants were not uncommon.

Israel's right argues that the Supreme Court turned activist starting in the 1990s under then-Supreme Court President Aharon Barak, who orchestrated what he termed the "Constitutional Revolution." The government says its judicial reform program seeks to fix the problem that has grown with the years and restore the balance of power between the three branches of government.

Rothman told JNS earlier in the week that for the Opposition the protests aren't really about judicial reform but a clash between two visions of what Israel should be, a secular state on the lines of Denmark, or a Jewish state deeply connected to its particular religious and cultural traditions. If such is the case, the young teens chanting "Rothman" at Thursday's rally symbolize opponents' fear that demographics are against them. They see the Supreme Court as a check on right-wing ascendance, which explains their determination to defend its power.

Reformers are just as determined to drive through changes to the court, which they say rules according to a left-wing, globalist worldview.

Hajaj said, "Bereaved families, victims of terror, are here because the Supreme Court plays a big role in undermining deterrence against terrorists. They give them rights that no other country gives them. And we paid with the blood of our children. And the citizens of Israel will continue to pay with their blood until we change this."

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JNS also met Lt. Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch, director of legal strategies at Palestinian Media Watch, who served in senior positions in the IDF Military Advocate General's Corps.

"What brings me here is the understanding that the legal system has to change. I was part of that ecosystem for 20 years. I was an assistant district prosecutor. And I understand that the legal system as it is today has completely failed," he told JNS, highlighting the self-selection process that goes on in the judicial system and precludes a diversity of views on the bench.

"We have members of the Bar Association appointing judges, lawyers appointing their friends to be judges with the assistance of Supreme Court judges, ensuring that they only appoint lawyers who are the same as they – in their image. Nothing changes. There's only one way of thinking," Hirsch said.

Im Tirtzu, an NGO and one of the rally organizers, organized street theater highlighting the Supreme Court's power. It featured people lined up in orange prison jumpsuits, representing a nation imprisoned by the court's rulings. Each carried a sign with a different ruling: "The Supreme Court requires National Insurance payments to terrorists," "The Supreme Court rejected petitions against the building of illegal mosques on the Temple Mount," "The Supreme Court prevents the removal of illegal [aliens] even when they're violent."

One protester wearing a mask of current Supreme Court President Esther Hayut held a stick with which he pretended to threaten and beat the uniformed protesters should they get out of line.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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