Israeli protests grow with clashes, arrests
TEL AVIV, Israel — Police said Sunday that they arrested more than a dozen Israelis in countrywide protests the previous night that drew thousands of people in a growing and persistent show of force against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his handling of the coronavirus crisis.
Thousands of people demonstrated outside Netanyahu’s official residence in Jerusalem and hundreds gathered in a seaside park in Tel Aviv, demanding his resignation and slamming his response to the crisis.
For the first time since the wave of protests began weeks ago, hundreds also assembled outside Netanyahu’s private home in the upscale coastal town of Caesarea, where heavy security greeted them. Demonstrators across bridges and intersections waved black flags, the symbol of one of the movements behind the protests.
The protests are emerging as among the biggest challenges to Netanyahu’s lengthy rule since demonstrations over the cost of living in 2011 drew hundreds of thousands to the streets. They come after what critics say is Netanyahu’s fumbling of the coronavirus response and in the shadow of his corruption trial, which resumed this month.
At a news conference last week, Netanyahu addressed the surging protests, warning demonstrators: “Do not drag the country into anarchy, violence, vandalism.”
Critics say police have been heavy-handed in trying to halt the protests, using water cannons to drive them out and in some cases causing injury. Police say protesters who ignore calls to disperse are removed to restore order.
Police fired water cannons on protesters at the Jerusalem protest and said 12 people were arrested there for being involved in disturbances. Two other people were arrested in other locations on charges of attacking protesters with pepper spray and a knife.
Israel appeared to have contained its first wave of coronavirus infections in the spring, with Netanyahu boasting that Israel was among the most successful countries in the world in its response. But what critics say was a hasty and ill-thoughtout reopening sent new cases soaring, with Israel now claiming one of the world’s highest infection rates when adjusted for population. The government, formed with the intention of focusing on combating the virus, has moved slowly and haltingly to contain the new outburst.
Israel has reimposed some restrictions after an extended lockdown in the spring paralyzed its economy. Unemployment has since jumped to more than 20%, from about 3.9% before the outbreak, and anger has grown over the government’s financial assistance plans, which have been chided for providing those in need with a pittance or nothing at all.