The Jerusalem Magistrates' Court ruled Thursday that demonstrations by Arabs and the Israeli Left at Shimon HaTzaddik neighborhood were legal even if they had not received a permit from police, and that the police should not therefore have dispersed them.
Judge Gad Ehrenberg ruled, however, that there was reasonable evidence to justify the arrest of 18 demonstrators who were arrested last Friday because they had entered the traffic lane and stood in front of a police barricade illegally.
The court said however that up the protest itself was not an illegal gathering because the law does not require a police license for a gathering that does not include speeches or lectures.
“The fact that others who oppose the gathering and its aims might disturb the public peace is not enough to turn the gathering into an illegal one,” Judge Ehrenberg determined. He added that even if the crowd holds signs or voices slogans through a loudspeaker, the gathering does not require a police permit.
Land of Israel activists Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Thursday that also they plan to go to Shimon HaTzaddik neighborhood on Friday, after the court decision.
The two said, "At first, we thought to asking for a permit from the police. However, in the wake of the court decision, we'll arrive without a permit. What's good for the leftists is good for us."