Israel. Jerusalem. 2023. Opponents of Judicial reform clash with police after the Knesset passed the bill. A large number of protestors blocked a major highway. After failing to clear the protestors from the road, the police brought in water cannons that sprayed a chemical agent that smelled like raw sewage to disperse the protestors.

Following six months of protests, on July 24 the Israeli Knesset passed a proposal changing the balance of power in Israel by limiting the power of the Supreme Court. The bill takes away the Court’s power to declare decisions “unreasonable.” Israel has no constitution and only one elected body, so opponents fear that limiting the Supreme Court’s power takes away the key check and balance in governance. Supporters of the bill have been angered by the court preventing some construction of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and striking down exemption from military service for ultra-Orthodox Jews. The current government is the most right-wing in Israeli history.