Smotrich backs brother’s support for driver who plowed through Tel Aviv protesters

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday lent his backing to a remark made by his own brother on social media in support of a driver who barreled through protesters blocking a highway in Tel Aviv the day before.

Tuvia Smotrich retweeted a video of the driver who sped through demonstrators blocking the Ayalon highway, forcing them to scramble out his way and apparently also physically shoving some with his vehicle, but causing no injuries.

Whereas the original post of the video included remarks condemning the driver’s actions, Tuvia Smotrich wrote in his own retweet, “I see an upstanding person who stands proudly in the face of a group of rioters and insists on his basic right to freedom of movement.”

His sibling, who is a cabinet minister and leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party, “liked” the tweet.

Initial media reports identified the video as showing another incident the same evening when a different driver drove through the crowds of protesters, injuring one person.

Tuvia Smotrich later said that the video he shared was not one in which anyone was injured and threatened action against outlets that misidentified the content.

אני רואה אדם נורמטיבי שעומד בגאון מול חבורת פורעים ומתעקש על זכות היסוד שלו לחופש תנועה.
ד-מו-קרט-יה! https://t.co/I9vC6ZVgR5

— Tuvia Smotrich (@TSmotrich) July 6, 2023

Both drivers were arrested at the scene and one was released on Thursday.

So far, senior coalition members have not issued comments about the two incidents.

בשידור חי ב-#חדשותהערב: רכב דרס מפגינים באיילון@ittaishick pic.twitter.com/w8q9SZJ2ss

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) July 5, 2023

Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets and blocked several major highways across the country Wednesday night after Tel Aviv police chief Amichai Eshed announced his resignation from the force.

Eshed was about to be removed from his post and transferred to a more marginal role due to what he claimed were “political considerations” and for refusing to use “disproportionate force,” following what critics said was his soft handling of judicial overhaul protesters.

The largest demonstration — in solidarity with Eshed and against the hardline coalition — took place at Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway, where police clashed with protesters blocking traffic and lighting bonfires. The thoroughfare was blocked for several hours, before police used force to disperse protesters after midnight.

Protests against the government’s controversial legislation to remake the judiciary have been taking place since January, and recently ramped up as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline coalition has renewed its efforts to push through some of the relevant laws.

The protests have angered the coalition, with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, the far-right Otzma Yehudit lawmaker who oversees the police, repeatedly clashing with the force over its handling of the demonstrators. Ben Gvir has argued for a tougher approach with protesters, and more arrests.

Ben Gvir’s outrage was often directed at Eshed, amid his refusal to use greater force against the months-long anti-overhaul demonstrations.