After car torched, Netanyahu says anti-government protesters acting ‘like fascists’

After activists torched dumpsters and tires near Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem, the prime minister says the protesters are acting “exactly like fascists.”

“In a democracy, demonstrations are legitimate,” he says in a video statement. “But what’s happening in the funded, organized, political protests against the government, which have broken every boundary — they vandalize property, block roads, make millions of citizens miserable, chase after elected officials and their children, to kindergartens and schools.”

“They threaten every day to murder me, the Prime Minister, and my family, and they also commit arson,” Netanyahu continues. “They said they would surround my house, the Prime Minister’s Residence, with a ring of fire — just like fascist militias.”

Today’s blazes, which led to locals being evacuated from their homes, were ignited on the morning of a planned “Day of Disruption” calling for the government to negotiate a deal to release the 48 hostages held by terror groups in Gaza.

The father of a family whose car was burned reportedly served over 260 days of reserve duty in the IDF and is set to head to Gaza for another tour next week following the latest mass round of callups.

“The car belongs to reserve Major Yoav Bar Ishay, the grandson of Yaakov Neeman, who was a wonderful Minister of Finance and Justice in Israel,” says Netanyahu.

“He has three daughters. They burned his car, and now his wife cannot take the children around. And then they say they’ll volunteer to help buy a new car. Don’t do us any favors. Don’t make us laugh. You speak about democracy? You speak and act exactly like fascists.”

Netanyahu insists that police are not enforcing the law, and demands that they must quickly take a harsher approach toward protestors.