From the start of the COVID19 pandemic, Israel, like virtually every other State around the world, has had to constantly review its laws and regulations in order to contain the spread of the virus and to keep its population safe.

Recognizing the vital importance that the right to protest has to the democratic fabric of society, the Government of Israel refrained from prohibiting peaceful protests and demonstrations, even during the most strictest lockdown periods, when most non-vital social interaction was severely restricted.

However, in an attempt to ensure that protests would be carried out safely, two restrictions were put in place: a geographic limitation, and a limitation to the number of people that can participate. The geographic limitation stated that people could not participate in an assembly that is more than 1 kilometer away from their homes, in accordance with the general limitation of movement in force during that period.

In its review of a series of petitions against these limitations (HCJ 6312/20 et al), the Supreme Court ruled on 4 April 2020 that the 1 kilometer limitation failed the constitutional tests for the limitation of fundamental rights.