Demonstrators arrested amid anger at Netanyahu over handling of Covid crisis

POLICE in Israel arrested more than a dozen people as nationwide unrest over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his handling of the coronavirus crisis continues to grow.

Thousands of people demonstrated outside Mr Netanyahu’s official residence in Jerusalem and hundreds gathered in a seaside park in Tel Aviv, demanding the premier’s resignation.

For the first time since the wave of protests began weeks ago, hundreds also assembled outside Mr Netanyahu’s private home in the upmarket coastal town of Caesarea, where heavy security greeted them. Demonstrators lining bridges and intersections waved black flags, the symbol of one of the movements behind the protests that is demanding the prime minister’s removal.

The protests are emerging as among the biggest challenges to Mr 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 the premier’s fumbling of the Covid-19 response and in the shadow of his corruption trial, which resumed earlier this month.

At a press conference last week that coincided with protests, Mr Netanyahu warned demonstrators: “Do not drag the country into anarchy, violence, vandalism.”

Critics say police have been heavy-handed in trying to clear out the protests, using water cannons to drive them out and, in some cases, causing injury. However, police say protesters who ignore calls to disperse are removed to restore order.

Officers fired water cannons on crowds at the Jerusalem protest and said 12 people were arrested there for being involved in disturbances. Two other people were arrested elsewhere for attacking protesters with pepper spray and a knife.

Israel appeared to have contained its first wave of coronavirus infections in the spring, but what critics say was a hasty re-opening sent new cases soaring.

Adjusted for population, Israel now has one of the world’s highest infection rates.

Israel has since reimposed some restrictions after an extended lockdown in the spring paralysed its economy. Unemployment has since jumped to more than 20 per cent, from around 3.9% before the outbreak.

The crisis has brought public confidence in Mr Netanyahu to a low, at a time when the Israeli leader could use the support.

A court decided earlier this month that the prime minister’s corruption trial will resume in January with three hearings a week, a pace that will keep his legal woes firmly in the public consciousness and raise questions about his ability to simultaneously govern and fend off the accusations against him.

Mr Netanyahu is charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in a series of scandals involving billionaire associates and media moguls.

He denies wrongdoing and accuses the media, law enforcement agencies and judiciary of a conspiracy to oust him against the will of the people.