Checks return to Ben Gurion Airport and during the busiest time of the year. On Monday, the protesters are expected to return to the airport gates at 17:30 p.m., which could affect evening flights at the airport.
In the evening and at night, quite a few large flights depart, including to the United States, and if the protest there continues for a long time and affects passenger traffic, there may be significant delays and disruptions that can drag on for many hours.
Protest at Ben Gurion Airport: Intermittent roadblocks on the road leading to departures at Terminal 3 // Yossi Zeliger
It is important to emphasize that in the previous protests at the airport, there was no significant impact on passengers and that the number of protesters was not particularly high. Despite what happened in the past, it is still impossible to know what will happen this coming Monday. Some of the protests may disrupt the access roads to Ben Gurion Airport, so the recommendation is to try to reach Ben Gurion Airport by train. These days, passenger numbers at Ben Gurion Airport are climbing to about 90,<> and more – very high numbers compared to what we have seen in recent months, and tens of thousands of passengers are worried about disruptions in their flights this coming Monday.
Background to the protest
Next week, the Likud faction will raise parts of the legal reform laws promoted by the coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Justice Minister Yariv Levin, the protest leaders declared that the movement to oppose unilateral measures to reform the judicial system will not stand idly by, and marked Israel's almost exclusive gateway as a central target for the demonstration.
Fear of congestion at Ben Gurion Airport following the demonstrations (Archive), photo: Yossi Zeliger
The protest leaders are aware of the fact that in the coming week the summer vacation is underway and the masses of Israel are expected to visit the main airport, alongside tens of thousands of tourists who will make their way to spend the summer vacation in Israel.
"First of all, I want to say that we are planning a special surprise operation next week as part of our protest," Nadav Galon, one of the leaders of the protest movement, told Israel Hayom. In addition, Galon notes that "first, our main action will be the demonstration on Monday at Ben Gurion Airport. We call on the public to come en masse and demonstrate. It should be said that the more people who come and express their opinion about what is happening, the better. We would be really happy if tens of thousands would come and express to Ben Gurion Airport their firm opinion on what is happening in the country.
"Of course, in such a situation there will also be enormous pressure of vehicles around the airport itself, and this situation is actually part of the protest. This very pressure, the tens of thousands of vehicles and the significance of this in terms of congestion on the surrounding lanes will have a real impact," says Galon.
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