COVID fines against Israeli protesters unconstitutional

In this April 4, 2021 report published by Haaretz, author Netael Bandel covers the recent ruling of Israel’s High Court of Justice that the “mandated 1,000-meter…limit on how far people could travel to a demonstration during the second lockdown was unconstitutional, and will therefore not be allowed again”.

Justice Noam Sohlberg notes that there was no point in discussing the “1,000 meter restriction as that had expired six months ago…this restriction was in force for only 13 days, when infection rates were soaring, and that the damage of a theoretical discussion on the constitutionality of this restriction outweighs any advantages such a discussion might have”. Justice Menachem Mazuz adds that the amendments to the law regulating authority impositions during the pandemic must be repealed as it did not follow protocol. He notes that no minutes of the debate was provided to the court, and there is no proof that alternative options were examined before a decision was made.

The article also cites a January statement made by Mazuz, who said, “We’ve noted that restrictions are imposed when there are specific demonstrations against the prime minister; announcing a state of emergency has a direct impact on demonstrations directed against him…There is an elephant in the room…Is his dealing with this issue not disqualified due to conflict of interest?”

Editor’s Note: In recent weeks, Israel has been portrayed in mainstream media as the model of effective vaccination rollout. This article reveals to us a different story.

Like the rest of the world that placed on lockdown, we see how leaders of at least one government made midnight decisions that effectively destroyed the livelihood of millions of its citizens. They have made decisions without considering how it will affect the country long term. And worse, they have utilized the coronavirus as a deterrent to opposition of their policies.

No science in the past or present shows that lockdowns, border closures, and travel restrictions were effective at controlling the spread of the virus. [See Will the real WHO please stand up? to read about study of the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions published by the World Health Organization. Also read Wall Street Journal: Lockdowns made pandemic suffering worse than necessary and listen to Episode 2: ECQ shows low IQ, Parts 1 & 2 to understand why we shouldn’t be panicking with increasing cases]With evidences against lockdowns already piling up, governments that care for its citizens should not use this measure again [this issue was acknowledged in Norway as early as June 2020, see Norwegian health chief: The lockdown was not necessary to control COVID-19.]