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Thousands of Israelis demonstrated outdoors in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official apartment on Saturday night, repeating his calls for the besieged leader to resign despite his historic agreement to identify diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates.
Israelis piled up outdoors in Netanyahu’s apartment several times a week during the summer, protesting his handling of the coronavirus crisis and saying he deserves not to stay in the workplace during his corruption trial.
While Netanyahu has tried to downplay the protests, the demonstrations seem to grow stronger. Even the announcement of Netanyahu’s box office success on Thursday in which he pronounced his goal of identifying relations with the United Arab Emirates, making him the third Arab country to have official diplomatic relations with Israel lately, seemed to have some effect on the dynamics of the protesters.
Thousands of people thronged central Jerusalem late Saturday, blaring horns, hoisting Israeli flags and chanting slogans against Netanyahu. A smaller protest took place near Netanyahu’s private beach home in the upscale coastal town of Caesaria, while other gatherings took place on bridges and intersections across the country.
There was a strong police presence at the demonstrations, but there were no reports of serious violence. In the central city of Hadera, police said they arrested a 20-year-old boy who had thrown firecrackers at protesters.
Demonstrations opposing Netanyahu are the largest that Israel has noticed since 2011 in opposition to the main position of living in the country. Still, they seem to pose an immediate risk to Netanyahu.
After moving temporarily to involve the virus last spring, many said Israel has reopened its economy too temporarily, resulting in a build-up of cases. The country is now facing an increase in cases, while unemployment has risen to more than 20%.
Many protesters, many unemployed Israeli youth, accuse Netanyau of misusing the coronavirus crisis and the economic damage it has caused.
The demonstrations, which take place several times a week in parts of the country, are organized through a united network of militant groups. Some object to Netanyahu remaining in effect during his trial. He has been charged with fraud, non-compliance with accepting as true and accepting bribes in a series of scandals. Many bring black flags, the call for one of the popular movements.
A previous headline of this story indicated that the protests were triggered through the agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. This was incorrect: the demonstration took a stand after the agreement was announced, the protests were already underway.