Anti-Netanyahu demo turns violent: 50 arrested
A demonstration against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the heart of Jerusalem on Tuesday night turned into a violent riot, during which some 50 participants were arrested.
The anti-Netanyahu demonstration in Jerusalem. (Yehonatan Valtser/TPS)
The protest, organized by left-wing groups calling for Netanyahu’s ouster, was attended by thousands who converged on the city’s centre, blocking traffic on several routes.
The demonstrators had a mixture of messages, including charges that Netanyahu was harming Israel’s democracy, that he was on trial for criminal charges and therefore should step down, and that he had failed in his leadership during the Coronavirus crisis.
At some point, the demonstration turned into a violent riot, with participants trying to storm the Prime Minister’s official residence while calling to bring down the Bibistille, a play on words of the Bastille in Paris.
The rioters then fanned out across the centre of town, threw rocks and eggs at police forces, attacked several journalists, and vandalized private and public property.
Police forces, who had apparently lost control of the situation, arrested some 50 rioters.
Eight of the rioters were brought before a court on Wednesday. The police asked for an extension of the detention of several of them, and the others were released under restrictive conditions.
Member of Knesset (MK) Micky Levy of the opposition, who was on-site, described the riot scene as “harsh.”
“The sights were difficult. Nothing can justify the violent riots and despicable attacks against journalists and police,” he said. “It saddens me and hurts that a bunch of anarchists has drawn this justified protest in a violent direction.”
The demonstration’s organizers have vowed to continue with their campaign to unseat Netanyahu.
Its about time the once popular Labour Party, and the left generally, started doing something as the Labour Party has bees silent for years. Israel has almost evolved into at one party state headed by the current PM.