Thousands of Israelis piled up outdoors in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Jerusalem apartment amid growing anger over allegations of corruption and its handling of the coronavirus crisis.
“Time was up,” it read in the giant lyrics thrown into a construction at the protest site, as demonstrators waved Israeli flags and asked Mr. Netanyahu to resign for what they say is his inability to work and business affected by the pandemic.
Protests have intensified in weeks, with critics accusing Netanyahu of being distracted by a case of corruption against him. He denies acting badly.
Netanyahu, who swore a fifth term in May after a highly controversial election, accused protesters of trampling on Israeli democracy and the media for encouraging dissent.
Israeli police officers bring AP protester
The right-wing Likud of Netanyahu called for left-wing riot protests and accused israel’s Twelfth People’s News Channel of “doing everything possible to inspire far-left protests” through the prime minister’s conflicting parties.
“Netanyahu is struggling to get the Israeli economy back to normal and to move the budget and subsidies to Israeli citizens,” Likud said in a post on Netanyahu’s Twitter page.
The protests dragged on beyond the Netanyahu official in Jerusalem, with many Israelis gathered on bridges and road crossings across the country.
People protest for the EPA of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu (AAP)
On a busy overpass north of the Israeli grocery shopping mall in Tel Aviv, protesters waved black flags and chanted slogans as they honked the horn from the road below.
One protester, Yael, said he had lost his job at a place to eat in Tel Aviv and that government help was slow to arrive.
“You think a singles crisis like this would push Mr. Netanyahu to act, and that’s not the case. That’s enough,” he says, refusing to give his last name.
Israeli police arrest protester opposing Prime Minister Netanyahu (AAP) EPA
In May, Israel lifted a partial blockade that had flattened an infection curve. But a momentary wave of COVID-19 instances and restrictions have noticed that Netanyahu’s approval score fell to less than 30%.
Since then, many restrictions have been lifted to bring industry activity to life, but unemployment is soaring at 21.5% and the economy is expected to contract by 6% by 2020.
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