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Tensions flared Sunday along Bar-Ilan Street in Yerushalayim as dozens of demonstrators protesting the construction of the city’s new light rail line entered the construction zone, prompting a large police response and leading to at least one arrest during chaotic confrontations.

According to reports from the scene, protesters breached the site’s security barriers and entered the active construction area, where they allegedly damaged engineering infrastructure and attempted to disrupt work while blocking major traffic routes.

As the situation escalated and concerns grew that one of Yerushalayim’s primary thoroughfares could be severely disrupted, large numbers of police officers were dispatched to the area. Forces from the Yerushalayim District, together with Border Police personnel and special patrol units, surrounded the construction site and worked to restore order.

A police officer at the scene formally declared the gathering an unlawful assembly and instructed the demonstrators to leave immediately. While some complied, others refused and continued protesting inside the construction zone.

The demonstrations are part of an ongoing campaign by members of the Eidah Hachareidis, who have repeatedly protested plans to route one of Yerushalayim’s new light rail lines through the Bar-Ilan neighborhood following a decision by the Yerushalayim Municipality.

Footage from the scene captured dramatic moments as police entered the excavation area, which contains deep trenches, loose sand, and large exposed infrastructure pipes. Video showed officers from the riot police and Border Police taking a protester into custody after he positioned himself among the massive pipes at the bottom of the construction site.

Additional footage showed officers dressed in black uniforms surrounding the suspect amid the dusty construction area, while dozens of chareidi residents and bystanders gathered behind the site’s fencing, loudly voicing their opposition as the arrest unfolded.

Police said they will not permit damage to critical infrastructure projects or interference with traffic throughout the city. Authorities confirmed that one suspect was arrested on suspicion of intentionally damaging construction equipment and actively participating in the disturbances.

Security forces remained heavily deployed along Bar-Ilan Street and surrounding roads following the incident in an effort to prevent further unrest and maintain public order.

Opponents of the project argue that the light rail’s planned route through the neighborhood presents religious concerns and should not proceed. The area has been the site of numerous large demonstrations in recent years, including mass protests led by the Gaavad of the Eidah Hachareidis, some of which ended in violent confrontations with police, including the burning of dumpsters and the use of water cannons by law enforcement.

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Architect Liran Shukrun describes one of the most important moves in Givat Hashalvah with a kind of quiet simplicity: the cars went underground. On a mountain, that decision is anything but simple. Parking, access roads, and technical systems had to be buried into the hillside. It required engineering, cost, and persistence. But once that happened, the entire ground level changed meaning. It became available for families, movement, greenery, courtyards, and community life.

That is where the “spaces between” become the point. In many residential developments, the areas between buildings are leftover space. At Givat Hashalvah, they are part of the architecture. They are where children pass one another on the way home, where parents meet without scheduling it, where a walk to shul becomes part of the neighborhood rhythm, and where the project begins to feel familiar before anyone formally defines it as a kehilla.

The master plan is built around a sequence of courtyards connected from east to west, almost like walking through an old city. You move from one pod to the next, from home toward school, shul, park, daycare, or shared space, without needing the street to do the work. That matters because the community is not only created by those who live nearby. It is created by how often people naturally cross paths, how easy it is to walk, and how much the plan invites daily life to happen outside the front door.

In Liran’s view, this is the human work of urban planning. A neighborhood has to help people use their feet, see one another, and feel part of the place around them. Givat Hashalvah was planned with that belief at its center. The buildings matter, of course. But the life between the buildings may be what turns the project into a community.

Explore Givat Hashalvah → https://go.lyo.group/3LxM3tz

Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday sharply criticized the government’s decision to reject a Supreme Court ruling concerning the Second Authority for Television and Radio, warning that refusing to comply with court decisions threatens the country’s unity and constitutional order.

In an official statement released by the President’s Office, Herzog addressed the growing standoff between the government and the judiciary after the cabinet instructed the Second Authority not to follow the High Court’s ruling.

“Statements about refusing to obey rulings of the Supreme Court strike at the heart of the unity of the nation,” Herzog wrote.

He continued, “I have said it before, and I will repeat it again and again—disobeying a court ruling is a red line that must not be crossed under any circumstances.”

The government, however, maintains that the Supreme Court itself has no authority to issue rulings that contradict explicit statutory law, as it argues occurred in the case involving the Second Authority. Ministers contend that the government’s authority derives from the law enacted by the Knesset and that the Court cannot invalidate clear legal provisions.

Earlier Sunday, in what many legal observers described as an unprecedented move in Israel’s judicial history, the cabinet unanimously approved a resolution declaring that it would not recognize the Supreme Court’s ruling regarding the Second Authority for Television and Radio. The proposal was jointly advanced by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Yariv Levin, marking a dramatic escalation in the ongoing conflict between the executive and judicial branches.

Under the resolution, the government declared that because the Second Authority’s governing council no longer meets the minimum legal requirements established by law, all of its actions are considered legally void. The resolution stated, “You have no authority to trample the law,” adding, “A ruling that contradicts the law will not be recognized, and decisions made pursuant to it are null and void.”

The dispute stems from a Supreme Court decision issued in mid-June allowing the Second Authority’s council, headed by Mordechai Mordechai, to continue operating despite the collective resignation of six of its members. According to reports, those resignations followed pressure allegedly exerted by associates of the communications minister.

Government officials argue that the council’s remaining membership fell below the two-thirds quorum required under the law governing the Second Authority. Karhi and Levin signed a legal opinion asserting that the council’s current composition clearly violates the statute and that any decisions it makes therefore lack legal validity.

The government resolution further stated, “The government will use every legal tool at its disposal to overturn the court’s decision.” It added, “The rule of law binds all branches of government, including the court itself. A ruling that directly contradicts the clear language of the law cannot be considered binding.”

Although the confrontation has not yet produced immediate practical consequences, legal experts warn that if the Second Authority takes action under the authority of the Supreme Court’s ruling while the government refuses to recognize those actions, Israel could face a full-scale constitutional crisis, forcing government officials to choose whether to obey the cabinet or the Supreme Court.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that House Republicans are preparing another effort to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, expressing confidence that attaching the legislation to a budget reconciliation package will give it its best chance of becoming law. Johnson said both he and President Donald Trump consider the measure a top legislative priority.

Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Johnson explained that lawmakers were dismissed to spend the Independence Day holiday in their home districts before returning to focus on the election-integrity legislation.

“I just decided it was best to send everybody home to go celebrate July 4th in their districts. We’ll come back, get everybody together. The big urgency is to get SAVE America passed. The president has that as a top priority, and so do I. We passed it three times in the House. We’re going to try one more time on a budget reconciliation bill, and I think that will be the way to get it through the Senate, and finally, to the president’s desk so that is forthcoming.”

Johnson also discussed additional election reforms that President Trump would like to pursue, while acknowledging that some proposals may face greater obstacles than the SAVE Act.

“He would like to add, the prohibition of mail in ballots, except for exceptions, like if somebody is deployed overseas or they’re ill or can’t get to the polling place. But he understands that one is a bigger reach. If we can get proof of citizenship and photo ID to vote, that eliminates so much of the problem, all the fraud and everything that everybody’s concerned about in our elections, particularly, frankly, in these blue states. Look, California, they’re still counting ballots from an election that happened a month ago. It’s crazy, and everybody understands it.”