Police hand out fines to protesters outside Gabi Ashkenazi’s home
Blue and White MK, targeted by demonstrators due to his willingness to serve under Netanyahu, urges authorities to cancel fines, highlighting freedom of speech
Dozens of left-wing activists protested Monday morning next to the home of Blue and White MK Gabi Ashkenazi, due to his and Benny Gantz’s willingness to form a unity government and serve under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The leaders of the so-called “black flag” protesters said police handed five of them fines for refusing to disperse the “banned gathering.”
They said the fines ranged from NIS 475 to 5,000 ($133-1,400) and vowed not to pay them, accusing police of trying to “suppress the protest with huge fines.”
The Kfar Saba Municipality also fined some protesters for making more noise than is allowed, but later said it was canceling those fines.
והבוקר הפגנה מול ביתו של גבי אשכנזי במחאה על ההסכם המתגבש עם נתניהו. המשטרה חילקה שם דוחות של 5,000 אף שלא נאסרה זכות ההפגנה. pic.twitter.com/WpNwJ3xXDh
— ???????????????????????? 333 JOEL 333 (@joel88783887) April 13, 2020
The Israel Police said the protesters had been asked to keep the two-meter distance from each other necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic but refused, prompting the fines.
Ashkenazi himself later urged authorities to consider canceling the police fines.
“Even during these days, we must guarantee freedom of speech and the right to protest, provided that the protesters adhere to the Health Ministry guidelines,” Ashkenazi said in a tweet.
“Protesting is a fundamental right in a democracy,” he added, calling on Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and Interim Police Commissioner Motti Cohen to “consider canceling the fines handed to the demonstrators.”
The “black flag” movement’s name has come from demonstrators pinning black flags to their vehicles to symbolize what they believe is a danger to Israeli democracy posed by Netanyahu’s continued rule. The demonstrators have often kept to their cars in order to uphold social distancing directives aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus.
Progress was reported Monday morning in the negotiations between Netanyahu’s Likud party and Gantz’s and Ashkenazi’s Blue and White to form a unity government, as a midnight deadline for Gantz to form a government loomed.
Presidnet Reuven Rivlin refused Sunday to grant Gantz a 14-day extension to form a government, saying that if the two leaders did not sign an agreement by midnight on Monday, he would ask Knesset members to recommend one of their number to receive the mandate to form a government. The first MK to receive more than 61 recommendations would then be tasked by Rivlin.
The High Court on Sunday evening threw out a petition filed earlier in the day seeking to disqualify Netanyahu from forming a government due to his corruption charges. Justice Alex Stein ruled that the petition was premature, since Rivlin had not tasked Netanyahu with doing so, but in the event that Rivlin tasks Netanyahu with cobbling together a coalition, the petition could be filed again and considered.
Israeli law requires cabinet ministers facing criminal indictment to resign from their cabinet posts, but there is no such stipulation for a prime minister.
Blue and White and Likud were believed to have been on the cusp of reaching a deal last week, before Likud asked to reopen discussions on judicial appointments, leading the talks to blow up. Both parties said Sunday in a joint statement that they were forbidding their members from giving media interviews, hoping to end up signing a deal after all.
The negotiations had previously picked up pace after Gantz was elected Knesset speaker with the backing of Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc on March 26, causing the Blue and White alliance to split.
Netanyahu’s trial was due to commence on March 17, but was delayed due to restrictions on courts as part of measures to combat the coronavirus, which were introduced by Justice Minister Amir Ohana, a Netanyahu loyalist. The trial is instead slated to begin on May 24.
Netanyahu faces seven counts of three criminal charges: fraud and breach of trust in Cases 1000 and 2000, and bribery, fraud and breach of trust in Case 4000. He denies the allegations and says he is the victim of an attempted political coup by the opposition, police and state prosecutors.
Raoul Wootliff contributed to this report.
