Thousands of anti-Netanyahu protesters rally outside PM’s residence in Jerusalem

Several thousand demonstrators rally in Jerusalem’s Paris Square to call for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign, in the first major demonstrations held near the premier’s official residence in weeks

“Sheheyanu!” says demonstrator Meir Moscovitch, invoking a Hebrew prayer for auspicious occasions. “We were away for three weeks and now we’re back to call for honesty — not left, not right, honest.”

Large-scale demonstrations against Netanyahu have been taking place for 17 weeks now, with the main protests held near the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem. Over the past three weeks, there have been relatively few protesters at Paris Square, as controversial emergency measures limiting travel to protests led to smaller demonstrations being held throughout the country in accordance with the lockdown.

Yesh Atid-Telem MK Moshe Ya’alon and Joint List MK Ofer Cassif are spotted taking selfies among the demonstrators. Little social distancing is evident, although most of the protesters seem to be wearing masks.

Fewer demonstrators are attending tonight’s rally than during the peak of the protests in July. More are continuing to arrive, however, and the protest didn’t officially begin until 8:30 p.m.

In a statement, the Black Flags protest group claims many protesters are being held up at checkpoints outside of Jerusalem.

— Aaron Boxerman,