Portside

In the year leading up to the October 7 massacre, hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets to protest the government's attempts to push through sweeping judicial reforms.

However, in the immediate aftermath of Hamas' deadly attacks, these demonstrations took a back seat as Israelis mourned the dead, prepared for war and rallied in support of the hostages.

When it became clear to them that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not doing enough to secure their release, the protests restarted – this time focused in large part on demanding a deal that would free them.

The latest round of demonstrations still has a strong anti-government sentiment running through it, as well as a small but mighty voice calling for an end to the war in Gaza and an end to the occupation.

As the post-October 7 protests have raged, police forces under the direction of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have ramped up efforts to quell them. Their go-to crowd dispersal methods – mounted police, water cannons and using actual force – have caused an increasing number of injuries. Arrests, often conducted violently, have become a regular occurrence at the demonstrations.

According to Otef Atzurim, an organization that provides legal assistance to protesters, 803 people have been arrested at demonstrations since the October 7 attack. In September alone, 55 protesters spent at least one night in a jail cell.

Haaretz spoke to five people who have not only been arrested but actually spent a night – or in some cases more than one night – in prison to find out what the experience was like for them, and how it has affected their subsequent involvement in the protest movement…

'One officer told me he was going to break all my bones'

Yolanda Yavor is a fixture at the protests that take place in Caesarea, next to Netanyahu's private residence. She has already been arrested 10 times.

"The one thing you have to understand about me is that I am a very normative person. I am a professor of Islamic Studies. Before October 7, I went to protests but never saw myself as someone who would get arrested, let alone multiple times. But for me, like so many others, my entire world collapsed on that day.

"I joined a group of activists who started coming to Caesarea to read aloud the names of all those who were killed and taken hostage on October 7. Even though we are very careful to follow the rules – staying 300 feet [91 meters] from Netanyahu's house, keeping our numbers small, obeying noise levels and time restraints – every single time, the police would find any excuse they could to declare the protest illegal and arrest us.
 

"The first few times, I was just taken to the station, usually Hadera or Zichron [Yaakov]. You go through the normal procedure: they take away your megaphone, your cellphone, you get your fingerprints taken and then they conduct an investigation. It's a long process and the entire point is to drag it out as much as possible.

"After about my third or fourth arrest, it was very clear that the police had their eye on me. [Coastal District police chief] Shlomi Ben-Shushan called me his personal project. I started getting handcuffed at each arrest, hands and feet. The questioning got longer and longer. During the investigation, the police always try to educate me. They tell me how lucky we are to have Bibi, that he's the only one who will keep us safe. You almost have to laugh, it's all so absurd. But I have also been threatened many times. They call me a crazy anarchist. One officer told me he was going to break all my bones.
 

Is jail a pleasant experience? Of course not. But after the trauma and the shock of October 7, the choice for me is an easy one. If we don't take this government down, we will not survive.

Yolanda Yavor

"Then they began detaining me overnight. Once I got arrested on Friday night, so they would not release me until Shabbat was over the next night. I usually end up in Kishon [Detention Center]. There's an aggressive body search. Most of my arrests have been in the winter, so it's freezing in the cell. There's just a thin mattress and a tiny blanket, and everything is wet and mildewed.

"The toilet is in the cell – so there's a terrible smell, as you can imagine. And in the summer there's huge bugs crawling everywhere. Through my previous work, ironically, some of the guards have actually been my students and they kind of made sure I was treated well. So many of the female prisoners are treated much worse than me.

"Is jail a pleasant experience? Of course not. But after the trauma and the shock of October 7, the choice for me is an easy one. If we don't take this government down, we will not survive. So really, what's the big deal about one night in prison?"

'I asked the arresting officer, "Where were you when we needed you at Nir Oz?"'

Zahiro Shahar Mor had several family members taken hostage by Hamas from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7 attack, including his uncle Avraham Munder, who was subsequently killed in captivity. Mor has been arrested several times in Israel and once in America.

"This was my first arrest: We staged a protest for the hostages on the Ayalon Highway where we sat in cages, briefly blocking traffic. The protest wrapped up and I was supposed to meet some of the other protesters in a nearby parking lot. After I got there, suddenly a bunch of police officers appeared and told us we were under arrest. It was seven of us and eight policemen, each with their own police car. It was completely out of proportion. I looked at one of the arresting officers and asked him, 'Where were you when we needed you at Nir Oz?'

"Hostage family members get mistreated by the police all the time now, but back then we were still considered holy. So we were released after about two hours because of who we were. Everyone we were arrested with had to stay in jail a lot longer.

"In July, a group of us flew to D.C. for Netanyahu's speech in Congress. I was invited by [Democratic] Rep. Ilhan Omar. The idea was to make our voices heard before the speech, but we fully intended to remain respectful and quiet while Bibi was talking.

"At a certain point, we realized what a disaster it was. He barely mentioned the hostages and didn't talk about the disaster of October 7 at all. I couldn't help myself, I just yelled out: '1,400 deaths!' After I said it for the third time, an usher approached me and escorted me out of the gallery. I had no idea I was going to get arrested, so my son who was with me walked out as well. All of a sudden, there are three Capitol policemen around me. They handcuffed me with plastic zip ties and read me my Miranda rights. My son was nervous because neither of us had our phones, but someone from the [Hostages and Missing Families] Forum came out to be with him.

"I was with five other hostage family members who were also detained. We were kept in a holding area until they drove us to a police station. It was much more nerve-racking than any of my arrests in Israel. You're in a foreign country and you're dealing with governmental security. I was questioned for a long time before I managed to explain who I was and what I was doing there. I needed to clarify that we weren't part of the pro-Palestinian protest that took place outside, which got violent.

I actually ended up decompressing from the whole ordeal with Rep. Ilhan Omar in her office, which was great.

Zahiro Shahar Mor

"Eventually, after the forum and some of the senators intervened, they agreed to let us all go. At first, I was given a court date, which was set for after I was already going to be back in Israel. But an attorney was able to get the charges totally dropped. Hopefully I won't have any further problems with my visa or anything like that.

"I actually ended up decompressing from the whole ordeal with Rep. Ilhan in her office, which was great."

'The support from people on the outside renewed my faith in this country'

Ilan Samish is the CEO of a high-tech company and a major (res.) in the Israel Defense Forces. He is one of the leaders of Brothers and Sisters in Arms, an anti-government movement made up of reservists.

"That night, I was the featured speaker at one of the weekly demonstrations near the prime minister's house. There's no stage – I was literally standing on a sewage cover – so we don't need a permit. After I gave my speech, I climbed up on the [1973 Yom Kippur War] veterans' tank to take some photos.

"All of a sudden, two Border Police officers grabbed me painfully by the neck and ripped my megaphone away from me. I was taken to the Hadera police station with two other guys, a veteran and a young guy who is currently serving in the reserves. They sat us in one of their offices, detained but not arrested. I was handcuffed by the hands and feet, including being cuffed to one of the other guys. From 10 P.M. to 6 A.M., we just sat there, running on no sleep and waiting. At some point, a lawyer came to visit and we could hear the protesters outside. That was really uplifting.

"The police investigation was just completely bizarre. They demanded to know who was financing us and why we attacked a policeman – which of course never happened. At some point, one of the officers told me point blank: 'This investigation actually doesn't matter. We've been given a directive from above: you're going to court.

"We were taken into a cell at around 7 A.M. In court, the judge issued her directive: Myself and one of the other protesters would be released with no restrictions. But at the last minute, the police announced they were appealing, claiming I was dangerous – and the strategy worked. It was so late in the day, I had to spend another night in jail. This entire time I had been asking for a doctor to look at my neck. But even before we left Hadera, [Chief Superintendent] Amit Pollak looked at me and said: 'That's not urgent. You have to go to court first.' They eventually took me for an x-ray and I was given an injection for the pain.

I was really unprepared for the police lies. They just completely make things up and once they say you are dangerous, the judges' hands are basically tied. Some of these guys just want to show Ben-Gvir that they're following his orders.

Ilan Samish

"This time we were taken to Kishon, which is a whole different ball game. The cell is like something out of an old movie – I'm talking about a hole in the ground for a toilet, full body search. Even during my ordeal, I couldn't help but think prisoners deserve better conditions than this.

"I managed to sleep for a couple hours before we were woken for the 4:30 A.M. counting. In court, the police tried to argue for house arrest, but once again they had absolutely no evidence to back up their claim. I was finally released on Monday around 2 P.M. and no one really followed up on the charges.

"The whole experience was really shocking. To tell the truth, I've been in other situations where I was aware that I could be arrested. But in this case, I was doing absolutely nothing wrong at a protest that was completely kosher. I was really unprepared for the police lies. They just completely make things up – and once they say you're dangerous, the judge's hands are basically tied. Some of these guys just want to show Ben-Gvir that they're following his orders.

"For me, all of their fear tactics have had the opposite effect: I'm more motivated than ever before. But I know people thinking of coming to a protest and seeing the police violence – it keeps them away. So in that sense, it does work.

"The one thing I took away from the experience was the incredible support we got from people 'on the outside' – from the protesters who come to every station to cheer you on, to the volunteer lawyers, to those that sent fruit platters to my house after I was released. It actually moved me to tears. It has renewed my faith in this country: We're a nation of people who are determined to fix what's broken."

'I wasn't able to breastfeed for close to 20 hours'

 

Tom Barkai was previously chairwoman of the Jerusalem branch of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. She is also a nursing mother to a young toddler.

"The night I was arrested was the same day as Hersh Goldberg-Polin's funeral. It was a protest demanding a hostage deal, and people were furious and devastated. At one point, I was standing next to a bonfire that others had lit when someone handed me a flare that I held up for a few minutes. Eventually, the thick smoke got to be too much for me, so I extinguished it and continued to march. All of a sudden, two police officers grabbed my shoulders and violently arrested me.

"Fourteen of us were loaded into a police van. There wasn't enough room for all of us to sit on the bench, so we made room on the floor. We were taken to the Moriya police station. Toward the end of my investigation, the officer and I spoke about my role in the forum and that I'm a mother of a toddler. He told me that I would be released, and I thanked him for his understanding.

...

"As we were walking to complete the paperwork, we passed [station chief] Shlomi Bachar. I heard him say, 'Is that Tom? She's here to be arrested.' I turned to the officer and said 'Is this for real?' And he just said, 'I'm not sure.' That's when I really started to panic. My entire body was shaking and I just couldn't believe this was happening. It was so clear to me that this was some sort of personal vendetta. I'd seen Bachar at earlier protests and I remember one time he said to me: 'There will come a time when I get you in a jail cell.'

"At around 2 A.M., I was taken to Neve Tirza Women's Prison, but they had forgotten one of my forms so I was forced to sit, handcuffed, on a bench outside the prison for hours. Eventually, they decided to take me back to Moriya. From 5 to 9 A.M., I was moved from office to office. I sat there listening to the police officers' conversations. You cannot imagine how they speak to each other – the most misogynistic, racist language. All I could think was: these are the people who are supposed to keep us safe.

As we were walking to complete the paperwork, we passed [station chief] Shlomi Bachar. I heard him say, 'Is that Tom? She's here to be arrested.' I turned to the officer and said 'Is this for real?' And he just said, 'I'm not sure.' That's when I really started to panic.

Tom Barkai

"Finally, at 9:30 A.M. I was taken to court. At this point, it had been close to 20 hours since I had last nursed. I asked the young policewoman guarding me for a breast pump, but she didn't even really know what I was talking about. She said I could see a doctor, but I'm not sure how that would have helped. During the hearing, they suddenly added that I threw branches on the bonfire. A complete and total lie. Eventually, the judge released me with restrictions.

"There were parts of the experience that were terrifying for me, for sure. But if their intention was to get me to stop protesting, it failed. There is no question to me that until all of the hostages have returned, every ounce of our energy has to be focused on them."

Asked for comment on Barkai's arrest, a spokesperson for the Israeli police said that she was "observed holding a burning flare, using incendiary material irresponsibly, and inciting other participants..." The police also said that Barkai was brought before a court "for purely professional considerations," and the judge in the hearing "determined that there is no dispute that the suspect carried a lit torch during a crowded demonstration."

'I was ready to stay there as long as I needed. I won't let them break me'

Michal Deutsch-Ciechanowski, a self-described "former right-winger," holds the unofficial record for most arrests at an anti-government protest: 20 times since January 2023.

"We were at a protest demanding a hostage deal. Even though there were hundreds of people there and I was breaking no law, I was the only one arrested just because I'm known to the police. I was taken to the Lev Habira station before being transferred to Neve Tirza.

"During the first hearing, the judge laid out a list of conditions for my release, including no illegal protests for a month. But none of these protests are illegal until the police declare that they are. It's just a tool they use to arrest people, so I refused to sign the restrictions. After several rounds of me refusing to sign, I ended up spending six nights in jail. But I was ready to stay there as long as I needed. I won't let them break me.

"Prison here has nothing to do with rehabilitation. It's about punishment, plain and simple. You are completely robbed of even your most basic rights. I have seen people who desperately needed to use the bathroom and were not allowed. I'm vegan and wasn't given anything I could eat except bread for the entire six days.

"You're entitled to a daily phone call, but one of the tricks they pull is to tell you: 'Yes, the guard on the next shift will let you call,' again and again, until it's the end of the day and you haven't spoken to anyone. As I was being walked to court, one of the officers pressed his body up against me. This was not a full-blown assault, but enough to make me feel completely violated.

The first thing I did when I got home was cuddle my dog, then my husband. Then I took a long shower. Sometimes I want to cry in frustration, thinking about the way those of us who absolutely refuse to resort to violence are treated.

Michal Deutsch-Ciechanowski

"The hardest part is meeting the other women in the cell. Jewish and Arab women who have been subjected to horrible violence, who are in need of social and mental health care that the staff, even the nice ones, just aren't equipped to handle. Some of the women are addicted to drugs; some of them spend the entire night screaming and no one will help them. There's nothing to do all day, so I spent a lot of time talking to my cellmates.

"Eventually I was released by the judge, even though I still refused to sign the conditions. The first thing I did when I got home was cuddle my dog, then my husband. Then I took a long shower. Sometimes I want to cry in frustration, thinking about the way those of us who absolutely refuse to resort to violence are treated, while others – like those [right-wing protesters] who rioted after [soldiers were arrested at] Sde Teiman – have faced absolutely no consequences. But I will keep going. There's no other option."