Parliamentary advisers to Members of Knesset from right-wing parties reported on Thursday morning that they are being flooded with WhatsApp messages and telephone calls from people calling themselves "concerned citizens" using hidden caller IDs.
Several parliamentary aides sent the messages they received to Israel National News, messages ostensibly from private citizens expressing their concerns about various aspects of the government's judicial reform program. However, the organizers' own instructions to the callers reveal that this is a planned disruption, with the organizers providing the callers with the contact information of the advisers and parliamentary aides.
An announcement publicized on Wednesday revealed that protesters were being directed to protest by disrupting the parliamentary work of coalition members by sending messages and making phone calls to parliamentary advisers from right-wing parties, intentionally flooding them with calls and messages between eight a.m. and seven p.m..
"Each and every one of you should decide how best to disrupt this coup d'etat that they are plotting for us," the message from the organizers reads. "The advisers are the people who do a sizable amount of parliamentary work and they are the most direct connection to ministers and Knesset members. Overloading their phone lines will render them unable to function and will cause direct harm to Knesset proceedings without interfering with the daily lives of citizens."
A large number of affected aides have reported the harassment to the Knesset secretary who advised them to file police complaints.
"They haven't stopped since early this morning," one aide told Israel National News. "This is my personal phone number that is supposed to be used for work, not to be harassed and cursed. Doing things in a respectful manner can be legitimate, but many aides have received extremely unpleasant messages."