Some 2,000 Israelis rallied outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem on Tuesday as protests mounted against him over his government's handling of a worsening coronavirus crisis and alleged corruption.
Wearing protective masks, the demonstrators marched from Netanyahu's official residence to Israel's parliament, holding up signs that read "Crime Minister" and calling on the five-term premier to step down.
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The government has recently reimposed a series of restrictions on public gatherings in an attempt to stem the second outbreak of COVID-19 disease. Still reeling from the financial blow dealt by the nationwide lockdown imposed in mid-March, thousands of Israelis have been protesting daily, demanding better state aid and the introduction of an orderly plan to fight the outbreak.
While protesters were largely peaceful throughout the demonstration, some began rioting, and shortly after midnight clashes erupted between demonstrators and police forces near the Knesset.
The Jerusalem District Police said that 34 people were arrested. One woman sparked outrage after she posed topless on a statue of a menorah at a traffic circle near the Knesset – not the iconic bronze Menorah outside the parliament.
Protesters were vexed by a bill that will ostensibly allow the government to bypass parliament and pass far-reaching regulations limiting civil liberties in the name of the battle against the coronavirus.
Warning against the Knesset becoming a rubber stamp for the government, organizers issued a statement saying, "The law authorizes the government to pass legislation in place of the Knesset, and in fact usurps its role as the legislative authority that oversees the government.
"This law will end democracy as we know it. It allows the prime minister to pass laws and limit basic civil rights without the Knesset's approval, including infringing on the freedom to demonstrate. We will not allow this to happen. We will defend the Knesset no matter what."
Israel, the statement continued, "is a democracy. The Knesset is the body that protects the public from the regime's abuse and the Knesset will not transfer its powers to the government thus eliminate itself. Israel will remain democratic even in the face of the massive economic crisis that this detached government has dragged us into and is failing to manage.
"We stand united and we are ready to fight the economic crisis and this dysfunctional, failed government."
Netanyahu has announced numerous economic aid packages. But frustrated by red tape and a slow pace, many Israelis say the aid is coming too little, too late.
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