Jerusalem municipality threatens legal action against police over use of Skunk liquid

The Jerusalem Municipality sent a warning letter to the Israel Police on Friday, demanding they immediately halt their use of the putrid Skunk liquid to disperse protests in the city.

The letter, addressed to police chief Danny Levy and Jerusalem District commander Amir Arzani, threatened to take legal action against law enforcement should it continue to use the crowd-control weapon, Hebrew media outlets reported.

“The use of this measure is unreasonable, disproportionate and causes severe harm to innocent residents, including children, the elderly and uninvolved residents,” the municipality reportedly wrote. “If this practice continues, we will use every legal tool at our disposal to stop the harm to the residents.”

Sprayed out of a high-pressure water cannon truck, the highly controversial Skunk liquid is often used on Haredi anti-draft demonstrators and Palestinians in the West Bank, but has also been rolled out against anti-government protesters in recent years.

The municipality called the weapon a “hazard and nuisance” that significantly harms residents who are not involved in disturbing the public order.

The letter further claimed that the weapon has caused damage costing millions of shekels, which have gone toward Jerusalem’s sanitation services to clean up after the use of the liquid, whose smell lingers for days in areas where it has been used.

Related: Critics cry foul as police use noxious Skunk liquid to disperse anti-government protests

Some who have been sprayed with the substance have reported skin irritation, shortness of breath and headaches.

The mere smell of the liquid has been known to shut down businesses and schools for days. Police guidelines forbid spraying it into “enclosed buildings” and onto “roofs and balconies.” They specify that its use in built-up and dense areas is only as a last resort.

Earlier in July, opposition lawmakers joined up with Haredi politicians to advance a bill barring police use of Skunk entirely, citing authorities’ refusal to disclose the liquid’s chemical makeup.

Bill sponsor MK Eliyahu Baruchi (United Torah Judaism) noted that Skunk is produced by only one supplier — the private firm Odortec, which invented the liquid.

“There is one entity that knows how to create this… and there is no government supervision on what this thing does to one’s health,” he said in a Knesset National Security meeting discussing the bill.