Protest organizers say 20,000 people attend anti-Netanyahu rally in Jerusalem

Protest organizers estimate that some 20,000 people turned out for tonight’s anti-government protest near the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem.

The actual number could be far higher, they say.

Demonstrators were handed a white band when they entered the protest. As of 10:00 p.m., around 20,000 bands were given out, says protest organizer Avi Ofer.

The figure would make the rally the largest yet of the recent protests against Netanyahu. Police said last Saturday’s protest drew 10,000 attendees, although organizers said that was a low estimate.

A small group of counter-protesters attends the demonstration, waing a Likud flag and bearing banners that say, “Leftist traitors,” and, “There will be no anarchy here.”

כמה מפגינים מניפים שלטים וקוראים ״שמאלנים בוגדים" בהפגנה בירושלים@SuleimanMas1 pic.twitter.com/sYPht5hVhq

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) August 8, 2020

Meanwhile, some 70 right-wing protesters gather outside the Tel Aviv home of the High Court of Justice’s chief justice, Esther Hayut.

The demonstrators, from the “South Tel Aviv Liberation Front,” write in chalk outside Hayut’s home, “Esther is burying Zionism,” the Kan public broadcaster reports.

פעילי "החזית לשחרור דרום ת"א" מפגינים סמוך לביתה של נשיאת ביהמ"ש העליון אסתר חיות בתל אביב. המפגינים, בהובלת הפעילה שפי פז, כתבו בגיר על הכביש: "אסתר קוברת את הציונות"@daniel_elazar pic.twitter.com/SongREkUSq

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) August 8, 2020

The anti-migrant group, led by prominent right-wing activist Sheffi Paz, have assailed Hayut in the past, apparently for High Court rulings that have prevented the government from removing migrants from the neighborhood where local residents say they are a source of violent crime, including rape.