Police Use Aggressive Means for Clearing Tel Aviv Rally

On Wednesday, protestors throughout Israel continued their ‘day of disruption’ demonstrations against the judicial overhaul proposals of the government.

There was violence in Tel Aviv, as demonstrators were aggressively subdued by the police because they were trying to block the Ayalon Highway.

The police

These protests have been happening for about two months now, but this was the first time that the police used water cannons, stun grenades and tear gas for dispersing the demonstrators around the Azrieli towers.

Protestors were also dispersed near Pardes Hanna with the use of water cannons. The clashes with the cops in Tel Aviv saw at least 11 people injured.

They came to hospitals for getting treatment for different burns, cuts and bruises. It appears that one man was hit with a stun grenade, which resulting in a loss of one ear.

The nationwide demonstrations also saw at least 50 people get arrested, as train service was disrupted and roads were blocked, with thousands of people rallying.

One video was being shared widely, which showed a man being subdued by the Border Police in Tel Aviv by leaning on his neck.

There was also footage of the situation at the Hashalom Interchange in Tel Aviv where the police used stun grenades, tear gas and horses, which resulted in protestors making calls of ‘shame’.

The actions

In order to disperse the growing crowds, the police started using water cannons. A number of protestors said that they had been wounded in altercations with the cops at the rally.

A group of officers could also be seen wrestling with a protestor in a video before they brought him down to the ground and one of them kneeled on his neck, while others held him down for subduing him.

Kobi Shabtai, the police chief, said in a statement that a number of police officers had also gotten injured in the clashes with the protestors.

He stated that they were committed to allowing free speech and protests, as long as the peace is not disturbed by the demonstrators.

He added that it was crossing the line when protestors throw objects or stones at the police officers.

The leaders

Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister, lashed out at opposition leader Yair Lapid for sowing the seeds of anarchy.

He said that Lapid calling for protests against the government’s judicial overhaul without having any compromise talks was a strategy to hold fresh elections in the country.

The premier said that hitting police officers, blocking traffic and disturbing the routine life was forbidden.

He stated that the opposition leader does not want to come to an agreement due to which he has not had any dialogue with them on the matter.

He went on to say that they just want to create a constitutional crisis that would result in new elections. Lapid responded to these statements, claiming that it was the government creating anarchy.

Referring to the National Security Minister Ben Gvir, he said that allowing him to play with explosives would lead to an explosion.