The High Court of Justice has issued a temporary injunction protecting soccer fans’ right to wear a t-shirt that refers to the Israel Police as “scum.”

The court on Thursday cited the primacy of freedom of expression, including at sporting events, in its decision.

It noted, however, that its injunction “does not prevent the police from operating within the boundaries of the law, as necessary to perform their duty.”

The court’s order blocked a police directive that had banned fans from entering stadiums wearing the shirt.

Judges gave police two weeks to present justification for the ban, before it is annulled permanently.

The shirts in question, produced by a fan club for Hapoel Tel Aviv, read “Ultras Hapoel against the scum,” in English, above the logos of the Israel Police, the banned Jewish supremacist Kach party and the Maccabi soccer club.

Fans of the team were

© The Times of Israel