Residents of working class Tel Aviv expressed their anguish and anger Sunday following the High Court decision striking down the Infiltrator Law, by marching with black flags.
Organizer May Golan said that the residents are taking down the Israeli flag and flying the black flag in protest of the dictatorship of “bagatz” – the Hebrew acronym for the High Court for Justice.
A week after the High Court controversially shot down the so-called "Infiltrator Law", which sought to tackle the problem of tens of thousands of illegal immigrants from Africa residing in Israel, the Interior Ministry appears to be pushing back by announcing plans to initiate new legislation in its place.
The High Court's decision was widely condemned by legislators, who saw it as an infringement on Israel's democratically-elected leadership by an unelected institution notorious for judicial activism in favor of "left-wing" causes.
Interior Minister Gideon Sa'ar noted that the decision marked the second time in a single year that the High Court intervened in legislation regarding infiltrators, which was approved by large majorities in two different Knessets. The previous Infiltrator Law was completely annulled by the High Court. Following this, a new law was passed, and now the court has effectively annulled it as well.
Others noted that the Infiltrator Law - which allowed for the indefinite detention of illegals pending deportation - had succeeded in cutting crime significantly in areas where a high concentration of illegal immigrants has led to a dramatic increase in crime, and particularly violent crime.