Cops use ‘skunk’ water to clear part of Tel Aviv highway, drag protesters away

Police have used high-powered streams of foul-smelling “skunk” water to disperse protesters on the southbound side of the Ayalon highway.

According to the Ynet news site, relatives of hostage Matan Zangauker are among those blasted with the water.

In the other direction, mounted officers encircle several dozen protesters remaining on the road, dragging them onto waiting buses one by one in front of a large media scrum. Earlier, a water cannon was used to put out bonfires on the road, but was not aimed at the protesters.

Protesters yell “Where were you in Beit Lid?” at the police, referring to the lack of arrests at a military court stormed by a right-wing mob in July, after reservists were taken there on suspicion of sodomizing a Palestinian inmate.

Police have yet to announce any arrests in Tel Aviv.

The protests in Tel Aviv and elsewhere appear to have been smaller than those that erupted when Gallant was fired in March 2023, but still far exceeded crowd size limits set by the Homefront Command due to the threat of rocket fire.