Netanyahu: ‘Absurd’ to claim that I’d impose lockdown to prevent protests

Netanyahu says it’s “absurd” to say that he’s imposing the stringent nationwide lockdown in order to block the protests against him. He says “these anarchist and ludicrous protests” actually help him politically.

The rallies “help us politically, the public is sick of them,” he says, but adds that while “it doesn’t hurt politically, it hurts the faith of the people.”

“The demonstrations … show contempt for the rest of Israelis who are being disciplined,” says Netanyahu.

“[The demonstrations are] incubate the virus and incubate anarchy — [we’ve had them in Israel] at a scale nowhere else in the world,” he adds.

“The right to demonstrate, like the right to pray, the right to earn a living, the right to transportation, are very important rights, sacred rights in a democracy. But they are not unlimited rights. The right to life is also a right.”

The demonstrations are being restricted under the new lockdown rules.