Police tell Ben Gvir won’t change treatment of Tel Aviv protesters — report

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir concludes a meeting with police following Saturday’s large protest in Tel Aviv and ahead of another planned demonstration this coming Saturday. The meeting comes after Ben Gvir said yesterday he wants protesters who block roads arrested and wants water cannons used against unruly demonstrators, as he noted was done in Jerusalem against rowdy Haredi protesters.

With demonstrators against the new government’s judicial shakeup planning an even bigger rally this week, police officials tell the minister they plan to act with restraint and won’t change current policies — including not arresting people temporarily blocking roads — so long as protesters remain cooperative, Channel 12 reports.

Officials have said police in Jerusalem sometimes use more heavy-handed tactics due to the more combative nature of protests there as opposed to Tel Aviv, where organizers normally come to an agreement with police on blocking roads for a short period before dispersing.

The network says the minister asked for comparative data on Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

However, Channel 12 says police have agreed to take a tougher line on demonstrators who use Nazi symbols in their protest signs and will confiscate such imagery.

The report says Ben Gvir wanted the same done with Palestinian flags — a small number of flags were seen in Saturday’s protest — but police told him there is no legal basis to confiscate those.