Hundreds of activists held a noisy demonstration on Saturday night outside the home of Supreme Court President Esther Hayut following the court's decision to halt the home demolition of the terrorist who murdered IDF soldier Amit Ben Yigal in May.
The demonstrators, led by the Zionist watchdog group Im Tirtzu, the South Tel-Aviv Liberation Front and the Choosing Life Forum of Bereaved Families, asserted that the High Court's decision was the latest in a long history of undemocratic and politically motivated judicial activism that harms Israel.
Equipped with drums, bullhorns, and other noise-making equipment, the activists held photos of Amit Ben Yigal and chanted slogans including "justice for Amit," "the people are the sovereign," and "stop the judicial piracy."
Acclaimed legal scholar and former United States federal judge, Richard Posner, was the first to coin the term "judicial pirate," which he labelled former Israeli Supreme Court president Aharon Barak who was responsible for Israel's "constitutional revolution" that gave more power to the courts.
The Israeli justice system has faced sharp criticism from both sides of the political aisle over its judicial activism. Former justice ministers Haim Ramon (Kadima) and Daniel Friedmann (Shinui) have been among the high-profile left-wing personalities to criticize the High Court.
Matan Peleg, CEO of Im Tirtzu that has been a leading critic of the High Court's activism, said at the demonstration: "According to the High Court, the property rights of terrorists and their families outweigh the lives of IDF soldiers and Israeli citizens."
"The ones who benefit the most from the biased political activism of the court are those seeking to harm the State of Israel."
Peleg continued: "This blatant violation of the basic principles of democracy endangers the future of the State of Israel, and the time has come for the judges to end their judicial dictatorship and realize that this is a democracy, not Iran."
Merav and Herzl Hajaj, parents of Shir Hajaj who was murdered in a terrorist attack in 2017, accused the court of "giving a green light for terrorists to perpetrate attacks against Israelis."
"According to the High Court, the blood of our daughter Shir, of Amit Ben Yigal, and of thousands of other Israelis is cheap," they said.
"Whoever places more value on the property of terrorists than on the lives of Israeli citizens and IDF soldiers has no business being a judge in Israel," they added.
Prominent social activists Sheffi Paz and Doron Avrahami of the South Tel-Aviv Liberation Front said: "Justices of the high court, free us of your rotten conscience. We don't want it. You are not gods, you are not elected officials – you are bureaucrats – and you are killing us."
Liran Baroch, head of the Wounded IDF Veterans Forum for a Secure Israel, said: "We came to send a message to the High Court justices that enough is enough. They need a reminder that their job is to judge according to the law, not to create new policies according to their warped worldview."