Anti-corruption protesters try to break through barriers at Netanyahu residence
Thousands of demonstrators call on PM to resign over graft charges he faces; 2 held in clashes with police; multiple social protests also take place across country
Thousands of protesters demonstrated outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official residence in Jerusalem on Tuesday evening, calling on him to resign over his indictment on corruption charges, as several separate social protests took place at the same time across the country.
Some of the demonstrators attempted to break through security barriers at the scene. Army Radio reported clashes with police, and said two demonstrators were arrested.
Later several hundreds people were said to block the tracks of the Jerusalem light rail in the city center, with police using water hoses to disperse them. Several more arrests were reported there, though there were no immediate numbers.
The Jerusalem demonstration was part of the ongoing “black flag” anti-corruption protests against Netanyahu, who is standing trial in a series of graft cases.
המפגינים בבלפור פורצים בכח את המחסומים לכיוון המעון. השוטרים במקום נאבקים למנוע מעבר. טירוף pic.twitter.com/guR9BEqdU3
— יובל שגב | Yuval Segev (@Segev_Yuval) July 14, 2020
The rowdy demonstration Tuesday evening was led by anti-corruption activists who refer to Netanyahu as the “crime minister.” Many held posters, saying “You are detached. We are fed up,” or saying there is “no way” a politician under indictment can be prime minister. Demonstrators, defying orders to maintain social distancing requirements, chanted slogans and blew horns outside Netanyahu’s home.
Some placards carried by demonstrators read “Netanyahu’s corruption makes us sick” and “Netanyahu, resign.”
מצור על בלפור!
Posted by Lotem Levin on Tuesday, July 14, 2020
One protest organizer, reserve army general Amir Haskel, urged the crowd gathered on July 14, the “231st anniversary of the French revolution,” to “demand liberty, equality and fraternity.”
As the anti-Netanyahu protest swelled, a few dozen supporters of the prime minister held a counter-protest nearby.
Clashes were also reported between police and some of the protesters at the latter demonstration.
ערב של מחאות | מבעירים לפידים ומנסים לפרוץ מחסומים: כאלפיים מפגינים נגד נתניהו מול מעון רה"מ@VeredPelman (צילום: יהונתן ולצר/TPS) pic.twitter.com/5bJkG4lI1e
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) July 14, 2020
Police closed parts of two nearby roads due to the protests, which came a day after officers clashed with demonstrators as they cleared an anti-Netanyahu protest site outside the prime minister’s residence.
Haskel, a former Air Force general whose arrest at the site last month during a rally made headlines, said in a tweet that Monday’s protest eviction was a “pogrom.”
The arrest of Haskel, along with two others, at the end of June turned him into a symbol of the protest movement that opposes Netanyahu’s continued rule.
Demonstrations have been held regularly around the country, with protesters waving signs reading “crime minister” and calling for Netanyahu to resign.
Netanyahu faces charges of fraud and breach of trust in three separate cases, as well as bribery in one of them.
He has denied wrongdoing and claimed the charges are part of an effort by political opponents, the media, law enforcement and prosecutors to remove him from office.
At the same time as the protest in Jerusalem, hundreds of demonstrators were gathering near Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Boulevard to mark nine years since the 2011 social protests that rocked the country.
That protest comes on the back of a mass demonstration on the weekend against the government’s handling of the financial impact of the coronavirus, with thousands gathering in Tel Aviv for a rally that later turned violent, as some demonstrators clashed with police.
People of varied economic backgrounds and sectors were at the Saturday night demonstration, including owners of hard-hit small businesses; freelancers and self-employed people; members of the entertainment industry and of the restaurant and hospitality sector; as well as university students.
There has been widespread anger from various sectors of the economy whose members say the government is not doing enough to help them weather the crisis, accompanied by outrage over the alleged misdirection of financial aid and the bureaucratic complexities of obtaining assistance.
In addition to the Rothschild Boulevard protest, the Israeli Scouts Movement held protests in Tel Aviv and at numerous junctions across the country, demonstrating against the government decision to cut state funds for youth movements by a third.
Agencies contributed to this report.
