Top cop praises officers’ restraint at violent Ethiopian rally

Police chief Yohanan Danino on Friday defended policemen involved in violent clashes with Ethiopian Israelis during a Jerusalem demonstration against police brutality on Thursday night, saying the officers responded with restraint to violence directed against them.

“I would like to commend the Jerusalem District and backup officers for the restraint they exhibited,” Danino said in a missive to officers. He said they had displayed calm in the face of the protesters’ violence.

Activists who participated in the demonstration, by contrast, said the police had used unnecessary force against them. Tear gas, stun grenades and water hoses were employed as some demonstrators threw stones and bottles at cops in the course of nine hours of protests on Thursday.

Still, police are reportedly trying to soothe anger in the Ethiopian community over perceived racist and brutal treatment. Channel 2 news reported Friday night that officials planned to review charges against members of the community and withdraw cases in which police conduct was in question.

The rally Thursday, during which protesters blocked streets and the city’s light rail tracks, turned violent when they attempted to march on the Prime Minister’s Residence.

Police blocked the marchers, and in the ensuing clashes 10 demonstrators and three policemen were reportedly injured. The sides have given conflicting reports of who initiated the violence.

Some of the protesters alleged that the police used excessive force. “We were attacked for no reason,” said Matan Admake from Yavne.

But Danino on Friday stood behind his men, saying “I saw how you stood up bravely to uninhibited violent attacks and stayed level-headed, without being drawn in by provocations.”

He congratulated and commended the members of the force who he said worked “day and night” to protect the public.

The demonstration came in the wake of video footage that emerged on Monday showing policemen beating an Ethiopian-born IDF soldier, who said later that he was the target of a racist attack.

Danino said that the officer who was filmed beating Pakada would be expelled from the force, pending a hearing. “There is no room for such officers in the Israel Police,” he said.

But he stressed in his message Friday that he “will not let one extreme incident or another tarnish the entire organization.”

On Friday eight protesters arrested during the protests were released from custody.

Many of the demonstrators promised that the protests were “only the beginning,” and vowed that such rallies would spread nationwide in the coming days.

“For years we’ve been putting up with this racism, and the pressure cooker is exploding,” one protester told the Walla news website.

Gadi Yevarkan, head of the Campaign for Equality for Ethiopian Jews, told Ynet the protest came after years of neglect and racism. “Our younger generation is desperate and it will only get worse if the government doesn’t take action,” he said.

Danino on Thursday met activists from the Ethiopian community, and said he would establish a special team to examine the community’s claims and formulate ways to deal with the problem.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin have both condemned the beating of the soldier, but Netanyahu has also urged dialogue rather than violence in dealing with the issues raised by the protesters.