Last night, about 10,000 people gathered in Paris Square in Jerusalem, near the prime minister's official residence in Balfour Street, carrying mostly home-made placards protesting against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On the other side of the street stood about ten demonstrators in support of Netanyahu. The police kept the two sides apart.
The demonstration had no central focus, but consisted of various groups, one of which sat in a circle in Paris Square and lit candles.
The demonstrations have been taking place on Saturday nights for several weeks. Last night's demonstration was attended by more older adults than in previous weeks.
Following violent incidents at a demonstration in Tel Aviv last week, the police took no chances, and were present in force.
The organization of the self-employed and unemployed meanwhile held a demonstration in Charles Clore Park in Tel Aviv, and the Black Flag protest against the prime minister, who is facing trial on corruption charges, continued on road bridges around Israel.
On Friday, Benjamin Netanyahu's son Yair published the private addresses of some of the more prominent demonstrators and called for demonstrations opposite their houses. In response, organizers of the demonstration in Jerusalem filed a complaint with the police of violation of their privacy.
In response to the demonstrations, the Likud party published a statement castigating television channels 12 and 13 for giving publicity to them and exaggerating their significance, calling the demonstrators "leftists and anarchists seeking to depose a strong prime minister of the right."
"Prime Minister Netanyahu will continue to work round the clock in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and to strengthen Israel's economy. The prime minister calls on everyone to unite in this effort and ignore the media's dangerous campaign of incitement," the Likud's statement said.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on August 2, 2020
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