FM Ashkenazi calls for immediate release of ex-general arrested during protest against PM

Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi calls for the immediate release of a former air force general who was arrested yesterday during a protest outside Prime Minister Netanyahu’s official residence in Jerusalem.

“Brig. Gen. (Res.) Amir Haskel paid the full price, in his life and work, [gaining] the right and duty to say his opinion, express objection and to protest,” Ashkenazi, a former IDF chief of staff, writes on Twitter.

Police said earlier today that Haskel refused to a conditional release and therefore remained in custody. He was arrested on suspicion of disturbing the peace during a protest calling on Netanyahu to resign due to the premier’s indictment on graft charges.

“The pictures that the public was exposed to during Shabbat in which Haskel is seen with cuffed hands and feet are a badge of shame for democracy in Israel,” Ashkenzai adds. “I admire his position and work, am pained by his arrest and call for his immediate release without preconditions.”

Ashkenazi is a member of the Blue and White party, the coalition partner of Netanyahu’s Likud.

לא ייאמן! ׳עציר פוליטי׳ בישראל. תא״ל מיל. בחיל האוויר, אמיר השכל אזוק בידיו וברגליו. משטרת אוחנה/ נתניהו מועלת בתפקידה ומפירה את החוק. ככה זה התחיל עם יריבי פרדיננד ואיזבלה מרקוס, או חואן ואוויטה פרון. מי שלא רוצה לגמור שם, כדאי שיתעורר היום!
(במסגרת לעיל, לשון החוק) pic.twitter.com/5aWtsqAkZt

— אהוד ברק (@barak_ehud) June 27, 2020