Group says it will suspend anti-Netanyahu protests during lockdown

One of the groups that are leading protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that it will call off demonstrations outside his official residence in Jerusalem during the lockdown.

The Black Flag group says it is doing so in deference to “social solidarity” and “social responsibility.”

In its announcement, it blames the lockdown on Netanyahu, saying it is “all the result of Netanyahu’s failures.”

Protests at overpasses will continue, but will be done in a safe way, it says.

The Crime Minister group, another protest organization, says it will continue to protest outside the Balfour Street residence, but will move the upcoming protest to Sunday out of deference to Rosh Hashanah.

The weekly protests have drawn 10,000 or more to Jerusalem’s Paris Square. Health officials say that they are not a major vector for virus outbreaks.