Thousands of demonstrators on Saturday gathered outside the official residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and thronged the streets of central Jerusalem, as weeks of protests against the Israeli leader appeared to be gaining steam.
The demonstration in Jerusalem, along with smaller gatherings in Tel Aviv, near Netanyahu’s beach house in central Israel and at dozens of busy intersections nationwide, was one of the largest turnouts in weeks of protests.
Throughout the summer, thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets, calling for Netanyahu to resign, protesting his handling of the country’s COVID-19 outbreak and saying he should not remain in office while on trial for corruption charges.
Photo: AP
Although Netanyahu has tried to play down the protests, the twice-a-week gatherings show no signs of slowing.
Israeli media estimated at least 10,000 people demonstrated near the official residence in Jerusalem.
Late on Saturday, thousands marched through the streets in a noisy, but orderly rally. Demonstrators hoisted Israeli flags and blew loud horns as they marched.
Many held posters that said “Crime Minister” and “Bibi Go Home” or accused Netanyahu of being out of touch with the public.
Hundreds of people remained in the area well after midnight, ignoring calls by police to leave. Anti-riot forces moved into the area and began clearing out people.
As of 2am, most of the remaining people appeared to be leaving peacefully, but police were seen dragging some protesters away.
The rallies against Netanyahu are the largest Israel has seen since 2011 protests over the country’s high cost of living.
Netanyahu has dismissed the demonstrators as “leftists” and “anarchists.”
Late on Saturday, his Likud Party issued a statement that accused Israel’s two private TV stations of giving “free and endless publicity” to the protesters, and exaggerating the importance of the gatherings.
While the demonstrations have largely been peaceful, there have been signs of violence in the past few days. Some protesters have clashed with police, accusing them of using excessive force, while small gangs of Netanyahu supporters affiliated with a far-right group have assaulted demonstrators.
Netanyahu has said demonstrators were inciting violence against him.
Israeli police have arrested about 20 far-right advocates in the past few days and police said they were on high alert for violence at the demonstrations.
Several arrests of Netanyahu supporters were reported Saturday, including a man who got out of his vehicle in the northern city of Haifa and threw a stone toward a crowd of protesters.
Police said that a 63-year-old woman was slightly hurt.
The demonstrations are organized by a loose-knit network of advocate groups. Some object to Netanyahu remaining in office while he is on trial. He has been charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in a series of scandals.
ROCKY RELATIONS: The figures on residents come as Chinese tourist numbers drop following Beijing’s warnings to avoid traveling to Japan The number of Chinese residents in Japan has continued to rise, even as ties between the two countries have become increasingly fractious, data released on Friday showed. As of the end of December last year, the number of Chinese residents had increased by 6.5 percent from the previous year to 930,428. Chinese people accounted for 22.6 percent of all foreign residents in Japan, making them by far the largest group, Japanese Ministry of Justice data showed. Beijing has criticized Tokyo in increasingly strident terms since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi last year suggested that a military conflict around Taiwan could
A pro-Iran hacking group claimed to breach FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal e-mail inbox and posted some of the contents online. The e-mails provided by the hacking group include travel details, correspondence with leasing agents in Washington and global entry, and loyalty account numbers. The e-mail address the hackers claim to have compromised has been previously tied to Patel’s personal details, and the leaked e-mails contain photos of Patel and others, in addition to correspondence with family members and colleagues. “The FBI is aware of malicious actors targeting Director Patel’s personal email information,” the agency said in a statement on
RIVALRY: ‘We know that these are merely symbolic investigations initiated by China, which is in fact the world’s most profligate disrupter of supply chains,’ a US official said China has started a pair of investigations into US trade practices, retaliating against similar probes by US President Donald Trump’s administration as the superpowers stake out positions before an expected presidential summit in May. The move, announced by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce on Friday, is a direct mirror of steps Trump took to revive his tariff agenda after the US Supreme Court last month struck down some of his duties. “China expresses its strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to these actions,” a ministry spokesperson said in a statement, referring to the so-called Section 301 investigations initiated on March 11.
When a hiker fell from a 55m waterfall in wild New Zealand bush, rescuers were forced to evacuate the badly hurt woman without her dog, which could not be found. After strangers raised thousands of dollars for a search, border collie Molly was flown to safety by a helicopter pilot who was determined to reunite the pet and the owner. A week earlier, an emergency rescue helicopter found the woman with bruises and lacerations after a fall at a rocky spot at the waterfall on the South Island’s West Coast. She was airlifted on March 24, but they were forced to
RSS