'Day of Resistance': Demonstrators take to the Ayalon Highway

I took the wrong bus to the protest. Looking to arrive at the Hemed interchange near Abu Ghosh, I boarded a bus in Tel Aviv at 6:20 am but then realized I was headed the wrong way, so I got off at a station in Modiin, a couple of kilometers South of the interchange, where crowds were surely starting to gather ahead of a planned 7:30 am protest.

Today is the “Day of Resistance,” in Israel, with protests planned from morning to night all over the country in reaction to the Knesset passing the first reading of the Reasonableness Standard Bill on Monday night.

By 7:01 am the day was in full swing at the bus station in Merkaz Modi’in. A man in a red jumpsuit handed me a Yisrael Hayom newspaper as I got off. The headline: “The Boiling Point,” with a picture of Bibi Netanyahu smirking in the Knesset. 

The first reading of the controversial Reasonableness Standard Bill passed in Knesset plenum by a vote of 64 to 56 with plans to move onto the Constitution Committee.

Following the passing of the bill, protests planned throughout the country are expected to occur throughout Tuesday.

If it passes, the bill's next stage will be a return to the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, which already on Tuesday will begin to prepare it for its second and third reading.

Hundreds of protesters kicked off Tuesday’s Day of Resistance bright and early at Hemed Interchange, where the air was filled with the sounds of horns and sirens and the scents of smoke bombs and water cannons.

“Today's first reading in the plenum passing, the coup d'etat, the 11th of July will all live in infamy,” said Yoav Lotem, a protest attendee based in Jerusalem who took a day off from work to demonstrate.

Around the country, Israelis of all ages took off from school and work to attend protests. At Hemed, just outside Jerusalem, the group met at the overpass around 7 a.m. but eventually descended rocky terrain to access the interchange. Once there, they began to block traffic on the busy highway.

Israel Police activated water canons at protestors who were blocking the road at Hemed Interchange on Tuesday morning. 

At least one protestor was injured in the process. 

Later in the morning, another protestor was injured when a horse stepped on her.

A Ynet videographer was arrested for allegedly punching a police officer in the eye in protests in Haifa on Tuesday, according to Israel Police.

Some 300 reservists in cyber units in the IDF, Shin Bet, and Mossad will stop showing up for reservist duty, they announced in a letter on Tuesday morning.

"We won't develop abilities for a criminal regime, and we won't help train the future generation of offensive cyber," they wrote in a letter announcing their protest. "As time goes on, the damage to the array and operational cyber capabilities of the State of Israel will deepen."

Employees in Rafael also warned of a strike on Tuesday.

"Every employee has a moral red line that if the government crosses it, their conscience won't allow them to develop weapons for a government leaning toward a dictatorship."

Four protestors were arrested in Rishon Leziyon on Tuesday on suspicion of disrupting public order.

Another 16 protesters were arrested in Tel Aviv with another 15 arrested throughout the rest of the country's center.

Three protestors were arrested in Kfar Saba for attacking police officers and lighting torches.

Three protestors were arrested at Ogen Junction for disrupting public order.

Eight protestors were arrested in Jerusalem.

Histadrut Chief Arnon Ben David warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that if the situation doesn't settle down, the Histadrut will take action.

"Stop the chaos," he said. "We will enact our full force when the situation reaches the extreme."

MK Merav Michaeli encouraged people to go out and protest on Tuesday.

"When the government is corrupt, resistance is compulsary," she wrote on Twitter. "Go out and protest."

"We won't give in to this terrorism," said Education Minister Yoav Kisch on Tuesday in reference to the protests. "This is an attempt to scare public servants and mess up the lives of millions. They're letting people block Ayalon every week. Where's the justice?"