Ben Gvir accuses Tel Aviv protesters of ‘illegal rampage’ for blocking Ayalon

25 February 2023, 11:16 pm

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National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir speaks during a Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee meeting at the Knesset, Jerusalem, on February 15, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir accuses anti-government protesters who blocked the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv of an “illegal rampage.”

“The protesters’ illegal rampage in Tel Aviv, including burning tires on the Ayalon and spraying graffiti accusing the prime minister of Israel of treason, shows that this is an anarchic protest,” Ben Gvir says in a statement.

Ben Gvir calls on opposition leader Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz to “immediately condemn the anarchic riot and incitement.”

The far-right minister who oversees the Israel Police says he instructed officers “to act with zero tolerance against violence, incitement and anarchy.”

Tel Aviv police say that protesters have set tires and wooden planks alight along the Ayalon, and that officers are working to disperse those gathered on the highway.

So far 11 people have been arrested, including one protester who bit a police officer.