The 'Kaplan Force,' a group formed to protest the government's planned judicial reforms, refuses to back down from its intention to block the roads leading to Ben Gurion Airport this evening (Monday) despite warnings from the police and the Israel Airports Authority that such an act could endanger hundreds of lives if there is an emergency at the airport.
The protest organizers instructed those arriving at the demonstration in vehicles to go around the departure flight complex several times and the drivers were also told: "Drive slowly, honk, take the flags out of the vehicle and show that this is a moving protest."
"Wave the Israeli flags from the vehicle, shout for democracy, and cheer with your car horns," the instructions continue.
It was written to all the protesters that "there is no need to demean protest symbols and flags, the police will take care to protect the protesters and allow the democratic demonstration that will help stop the dictatorial and extreme moves of the Israeli government led by Netanyahu."
At the end, the organizers wrote: "Pay attention, we must convey a clear and sharp message to the government of Israel, if you try to create a dictatorship, we will know, as in the first round, how to paralyze the state and stop the legislation."
Central District Commander Police Chief Avi Biton and Israel Airports Authority acting director Amnon Cohen approved a new complex near Terminal 3 at the airport to allow the protestors to congregate without disrupting traffic. 1,000 police officers will be deployed to secure the demonstration, while the Airports Authority will deploy extra staff to the airport during the demonstration. However, both organizations fear that the demonstration will be far more disruptive than the organization currently claims.
A senior police officer told Kan News: "We have intelligence that the protesters intend to go on a rampage tomorrow at the airport."
Yesterday, Cohen and Biton cited the state of emergency which was declared at Ben Gurion Airport on Saturday in explaining the potential dangers of the demonstration.
"We saw to what extent the airport is a place that has a very high operational sensitivity that directly concerns human life. The airport can turn in seconds into a place where an emergency procedure is activated where the lives of hundreds of people depend on it," Cohen said.
"When a state of emergency was declared, dozens of ambulances, emergency, rescue and security vehicles from all over Gush Dan and Jerusalem were rushed to the field. If God forbid the airport was blocked and the entrance to it was blocked, the security and rescue forces would not have been able to quickly enter the field and prepare accordingly, and we could have had an event with hundreds of dead and injured," he added.
Similarly, Biton said that "the night terror scenario of a plane with hundreds of passengers that was required to make an emergency landing in Ben Gurion Airport, is a warning light for all of us and obliges us to maintain the security roads leading to Ben Gurion Airport. I call on the organizers of the protests: show responsibility so that a disaster that we will regret will not happen."
The Central District Commander further stated that the roads leading to Ben Gurion Airport "are defined as emergency roads and must be left free for the rescue forces at all times."