Liran Tamari, Ynet’s police correspondent, posted a sharp criticism on Thursday afternoon of the release to house arrest of a man suspected of pulling a gun on ultra-Orthodox protesters. Tamari said he was raising an unpopular view, but argued that religious protesters have the same right as any other citizens to demonstrate, even on the sensitive and divisive issue of military conscription.
He said his objection was not to the protest itself but to the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court decision, which described the gun incident as happening in “unique circumstances of pressure and panic.” According to Tamari, that reasoning is deeply troubling because road blockages have become common across Israel for four years, and a reasonable person does not draw a weapon every time demonstrators block traffic.
Tamari warned that such a ruling could send the wrong message and legitimize dangerous behavior. He wrote that a judge should not accept the idea that brandishing a gun can be understood simply because the situation was stressful.
He also posed a political test case, asking what would happen if a right-wing activist had pointed a gun at protesters in Kaplan. In his words, would courts then also say the act could be understood because of a “stressful situation”? He said he found that hard to believe.
