One arrested as police forcibly disperse anti-government protest outside Knesset

Violence broke out at an anti-government protest outside the Knesset in Jerusalem a short while ago as police forcibly dispersed protesters who were blocking the road leading to the Prime Minister’s Office.

One person was arrested during the incident, for “disturbing the peace,” the police say.

The protesters had marched from the Chords Bridge to the Knesset complex earlier this afternoon for a protest timed to coincide with the first weekly faction meetings following the end of the spring recess.

Speaking to Channel 12, protesters say they showed up to demonstrate over a whole host of issues, including the failure to recover the remaining 59 hostages from Gaza, the mass call-up of IDF reservists, and the treatment of the country’s educators amid ongoing wage disputes.

After the rally-goers began blocking the road leading to the Prime Minister’s Office, police started breaking up the demonstration by force.

In footage posted online, police can be seen hauling protesters across the street while crowds jostle around them.

In a second video clip, a protester is dragged across the street by the arm, while a second is hauled out of the crowd by a cop pulling him by the strap of his backpack.

Police forcibly remove protesters from a road leading to the Prime Minister’s Office, on May 5, 2025. (Orna Kupferman/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

In a statement about the incident, the Israel Police says that some of the protesters “began disturbing public order… ignoring the instructions of the police officers on the scene, created provocations and clashed with officers.”

“As a result, a police officer announced that they were disturbing the peace and ordered them to continue their march to the designated protest area,” the police continue. “After they failed to comply, the police, together with Border Police officers, worked to push them back, and during this, a suspect was detained for questioning following an assault on a policewoman.”

♦️ תיעוד: המשטרה החלה לפנות בכוח מפגינים נגד הממשלה מול הכנסת. צילום: זיו שמע תקשורת. pic.twitter.com/xp5HWBGayF

— Asslan Khalil (@KhalilAsslan) May 5, 2025