Illegal Police Conduct at a Peaceful Protest

Illustrative. Photo: "Protest Documentation," Whatsapp

At a peaceful antiwar and pro-Two State Solution demonstration held on April 11, 2026 in the Haifa District, a police officer confiscated and broke a sign carried by a protester. The police officer then proceeded to handcuff the protester, told the protester that they were under arrest for “incitement,” and threatened them with physical violence. The officer then handcuffed three additional protesters and boasted about it to other officers, that by doing so they had met their quota for that evening. The following day, when the protester arrived at the police station and asked for the officer’s name in order to file a complaint, they were told that the person was not, in fact, a police officer but a volunteer. 

On April 19, 2026, we contacted senior police officials demanding an investigation into the officers’ conduct at the demonstration. Attorney Eden Gilad, ACRI’s Freedom of Protest Coordinator, noted the harm to freedom of expression and protest, human dignity, and personal safety. Confiscating signs, detaining and arresting protesters without cause, and handcuffing protesters in a public space is not only illegal, it also serves to create a chilling effect and signal to demonstrators and would-be demonstrators that exercising their rights may end in humiliation, fear, and harm to their safety and liberty. This is especially true for peaceful protests, when there are no disturbances to public order. She emphasized that the police are not permitted to interfere with the content of a protest simply because it expresses a political position they do not like, and that officers are not allowed to confiscate signs or to detain, arrest, or handcuff protesters without legal grounds.  

If it was, in fact, a Civil Guard volunteer who carried out the vandalism and harassment, this raises additional legal issues, as volunteers are not authorized to engage in policing demonstrations. ACRI is demanding that the incident be investigated and that procedures regarding freedom of expression and protest be clarified to Coastal District law enforcement officers. 

ACRI’s appeal, April 19, 2026 (Heb)