Protesters take to streets after Gallant fired; crowds much smaller than previous time
Angry demonstrations erupt in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and elsewhere; while attendance down, turnout exceeds limit on crowd sizes permitted by IDF guidelines amid risk of rocket attacks
Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets across Israel on Tuesday following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s abrupt firing of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, in scenes that were reminiscent of, though far smaller in scale than, the demonstrations that followed the premier’s first attempt to fire Gallant, in March 2023.
The prime minister dismissed Gallant Tuesday evening, citing mutual distrust that Netanyahu said “helped the enemy.”
The move was largely seen by critics, however, as motivated by political considerations, including efforts to pass legislation exempting ultra-Orthodox men from mandatory military service.
Thousands of text messages were sent to anti-government lists calling on citizens to protest the move, and large crowds gathered in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Caesarea, and other locations throughout Israel.
The Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv, a frequent location for protests, was blocked in both directions by demonstrators, who lit bonfires, while a parallel protest took place on the city’s Kaplan Street.
Few police officers were initially on the scene, and the spontaneous nature of the demonstrations meant cops had not blocked the entrances to the thoroughfare with trucks as they usually do during the weekly Saturday night protests calling for a hostage deal and denouncing the Netanyahu government.
The highway was quickly awash in Israeli flags, as well as pictures of hostages and yellow flags signifying solidarity with the captives.
Referring to Netanyahu, protesters around one of the bonfires chanted: “He’s a traitor!” “How much more blood will be spilled until the accused [of corruption] leaves?”
Footage shows Israelis blocking the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv, the Meitarim Bridge in Jerusalem, Shilat Junction near Modi’in, as well as roads blocked in Elyakim and multiple locations across Israel, protesting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, November 5, 2024. (@sha_b_p/A.A Aerial Photography/OM/Efrat Safran/Tanya Zion-Waldoks/Porath Lubansky/Gal Mosenson/Israeli Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
They also rehashed the mantra of the 2023 mass protests against the government’s judicial overhaul: “Democracy or revolution!”
At one point, protesters took hundreds of concrete blocks from a nearby construction site and placed them on the highway, near Azrieli Junction.
A video circulating online showed a police officer shoving MK Gilad Kariv, a lawmaker for The Democrats (formerly Labor), during a heated exchange on the highway.
Shortly after midnight, Israel Police Chief Daniel Levy held an assessment of the situation and instructed officers not to allow bonfires or property damage, according to the Ynet news site.
Following the assessment, police warned protesters that they would begin clearing the highway by force.
Police then used high-powered streams of foul-smelling “skunk” water to disperse the protesters on the southbound side of the Ayalon Highway. Relatives of hostage Matan Zangauker were among those blasted with the water, according to Ynet.
Earlier, a water cannon was used to put out bonfires on the road, but was not aimed at the protesters.
On the other side of the road, mounted officers encircled several dozen protesters who remained on the highway, dragging them onto waiting buses one by one in front of a large media scrum.
Amid the clashes, protesters yelled “Where were you at Beit Lid?” at the police, referring to the lack of arrests at a military court stormed by a right-wing mob in July after reservists were taken there on suspicion of sodomizing a Palestinian inmate.
After about four hours, the highway was clear of protesters. Police said some 40 protesters were arrested.
Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, crowds of protesters gathered on the city’s Azza Street and congregated near Netanyahu’s residence, calling the prime minister a “tyrant.”
The demonstrators clashed with police and broke through barricades before officers declared the demonstration an “illegal protest” and began to disperse the participants by force.
Three demonstrators were detained for “attacking police and breaking through barriers” near Azza Street, police said in a statement.
Authorities also announced that traffic on Route 1 into the capital had been blocked with stones, but was flowing again.
In Haifa, crowds of people marched down the city’s Moriah Boulevard on their way to the Horev Center mall.
Police said in a statement that two people were arrested in Haifa, including one suspected of lighting a bonfire on a road. No reason was given for the second arrest.
“Some of the protesters fought with police there and at a certain point began to march toward the highway to disrupt traffic,” police said in a statement.
The scenes Tuesday night were reminiscent of the protests that broke out in March 2023, when Netanyahu first moved to fire Gallant, after the defense minister spoke out about the government’s efforts to overhaul the judiciary.
Public backlash at the time forced the prime minister to reverse course.
The demonstrations this time were far smaller in scale. They were, however, in excess of what is permitted in some locations by Home Front Command guidelines meant to mitigate the risk posed by rocket attacks — in Tel Aviv, public events are currently limited to 2,000 people.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
