From the Liveblog of
Saturday, March 8, 2025
Police briefly block exits at Tel Aviv protest, elderly people reportedly pushed to the ground
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Police in Tel Aviv blocked off demonstrators in a crowded area on Begin Road a short while ago, using parked trucks and rows of officers, preventing participants from leaving their protest.
Participants say the police action led to intense pressure within the crowd, and that they begged the police to let them leave the enclosed area.
Footage showed some people crawling under the trucks to get out of the enclosed area.
עוד ועוד אנשים נאצלים לזחול בין משאיות כדי לחלץ עצמם מהדוחק שנוצר עקב חסימות המפגינים המעוניינים לשוב לביתם pic.twitter.com/YQLDvc6NPG
— אלימות ישראל (@Alimut_Israel) March 8, 2025
A Channel 12 report says the decision to close in the crowds caused “dangerous overcrowding.” The move was unprovoked and unjustified, the report says, and was ordered by the police commander at the scene.
Several elderly people were pushed to the ground, the report says, “and police officers began to beat demonstrators who simply wanted to get past and had done nothing.”
After more senior district officers were alerted, the various barriers were removed and the crowds were allowed to move around. If this had not happened, “we would have seen a disaster,” Channel 12 says.
Some of the participants had simply wanted to go home, the report says, and others to join families who are holding a vigil outside the IDF Kirya Headquarters.
The Times of Israel Community.