Thousands of Israelis join anti-Netanyahu protests despite COVID-19 lockdown
Tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated in hundreds of locations across Israel against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pressing ahead with their campaign against the Israeli leader on Saturday night after the government banned large, centralized demonstrations as part of a new coronavirus lockdown.
- World
- Reuters
- Published Date: 11:08 | 03 October 2020
- Modified Date: 11:10 | 03 October 2020
Thousands of Israelis protested across the country on Saturday, flouting a new law meant to curb anti-government demonstrations during a coronavirus lockdown.
The street protests, just three days after parliament approved an edict to limit the scope of such demonstrations, kept pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his handling of the coronavirus crisis and over allegations of corruption.
The new law bans Israelis from holding demonstrations more than 1 km (about half a mile) from their homes and forces stricter social distancing, a measure the government said was aimed at curbing COVID-19 infections. Critics have called it a blow to freedom of speech.
Most protests on Saturday night were small and scattered throughout the country, though a crowd of thousands gathered in Tel Aviv. A small number of protesters scuffled with police and tried to block city streets. About fifteen people were arrested, a police spokesman said.
Israel has shut down much of its economy and instructed people to stay within a kilometre of their homes whenever possible in an effort to contain a second-wave surge in coronavirus infections.