On Sept. 30, the Knesset voted 46-38 to amend the coronavirus law to limit the right to demonstrate only at a place within a kilometer (0.6 mile) from one’s home and only in small groups of up to 20 persons. Blue and White members Miki Haimovich and Ram Shefa voted with the opposition and opposed the stance of the government and their own party.

The law allows the government to declare a “special state of emergency due to the coronavirus” for a week, if it is convinced that there is a widespread proliferation of the virus that could cause severe harm to public health, and on the condition that a lockdown is in force at the time. The declaration of the state of emergency could be lengthened for additional periods from one week up to a total of 21 days.

But despite the new limitations on demonstrations, protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have continued throughout the country. Hundreds marched in Tel Aviv when Public Security Minister Amir Ohana criticized police for enabling the march and demanded that the law be enforced.

“We have become a dictatorship,” said Knesset member Eli Avidar of Yisrael Beitenu in his Knesset speech during the process of voting on the law. He said, “The State of Israel has been undergoing a process of deterioration for a period of several months already. If this law passes, none of us will be able to claim that we are the only democracy in the Middle East; we will have become a dictatorship.” The very next day, Avidar said he would petition the High Court against the legislation.