Police Must Allow the Protest Against the Genocide in Sudan

Photo: Henry Wilkins/VOA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

ACRI petitioned Israel's Supreme Court on November 18, 2025, on behalf of an asylum seeker from Sudan, after the police revoked the permit for a demonstration at the United Arab Emirates embassy in Herzliya against the genocide in Sudan. The police initially approved the demonstration under certain conditions, but later reversed its decision, claiming it had received information that there was a high degree of certainty that the demonstration could result in serious harm to state security and public order. The police refused to provide any details about the information it had obtained. 

The petition argues that the police do not have the authority to refuse a permit for a protest or demonstration based on the subject of the protest, its content, or the ideological background of its organizers. The petitioner and his colleagues planned to hold a demonstration following the guidelines given to them and pose no danger to anyone. If the concern is from others who oppose the protest, then the role of the police is to protect the demonstrators and not to cancel the demonstration. Rescinding a permit to protest due to the opposition to it rewards violence and constitutes a serious infringement on the fundamental right of freedom of expression.

HCJ 52165-11-25 Ismail v. Commander of Tel Aviv District, Israel Police  

Attorneys: Oded Feller, Eden Gilad  

ACRI's Petition, November 18, 2025 (Heb) 

Links to articles in Hebrew written about this issue can be found here.