Police position water cannon near protesters blocking Ayalon Highway

Police have brought a water cannon down to the Ayalon Highway to clear remaining protesters blocking the road.

Among the crowd gathered on the overpass above are several Israelis whose bus was stopped by traffic and came down to observe the demonstrations.

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“Right now? No, I don’t think they should use it,” says Matan Cohen, 22, from Kiryat Ono.

“Now there’s no traffic,” because police have now blocked lower sections of the road. “There’s no reason to hurt people.”

Cohen stresses, though, that he expects there to be the same treatment for largely secular and ultra-Orthodox protesters, the latter of whom have frequently met water cannons.

“If they need to use it, they need to use it. Right now, no,” says Cohen.