Hundreds of people protested on Friday afternoon outside the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem as part of the “black flags” protest against government corruption.
The leader of the protest, Brigadier General (res.) Amir Haskel, former chief of personnel in the Israel Air Force, was detained for questioning by police.
Police said six protesters were arrested on suspicion of disrupting public order and other offenses. This is the second week in which a protest was held on a Friday outside the Prime Minister’s Residence on Balfour Street “for democracy and against the criminal defendant”.
MK Moshe Ya’alon (Yesh Atid-Telem) responded to the incident and said,
“If indeed the former Air Force pilot, Brigadier General Amir Haskel, was arrested during a demonstration in Balfour – then before the Sabbath we have made another step on the way toward dictatorship.”
In an interview with Arutz Sheva earlier this week, Haskel said, “We are citizens who are concerned about what is happening in the country. We are concerned about the collapse of values. Such basic values as setting a personal example, honesty and credibility are collapsing before our eyes.”
“The Prime Minister is a man accused of bribery and fraud, the government has 36 ministers, 16 deputies, while Israel is dealing with the coronavirus epidemic and an economic crisis. This is unthinkable,” continued Haskel.
“The value of unity is very important, but it first and foremost obligates the Prime Minister, who does everything he can during his reign to break us apart and tear us apart,” he added. “I have been protesting in the streets for a few years now, this is one of the reasons why I am doing it, because a divided and torn society has no future. I’m here for my children and grandchildren.”
Header: Police remove a protester during a protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem, on June 26, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Original: Arutz Sheva