Thousands of Israelis rallied outside Benjamin Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence on Saturday night to protest his policies and prime ministership, days before a general election that could see the long-standing leader removed from power.
Mr Netanyahu, 71, in power for a record 12 consecutive years, is hoping to remain in office following Israel’s fourth election in less than two years on Tuesday.
Final pre-election opinion polls broadcast on television on Friday night showed that Mr Netanyahu’s Likud party and its hawkish, religious allies were tied for a majority with those seeking to replace the Prime Minister.
His detractors accuse him of corruption and say his management of the coronavirus pandemic, including protracted lockdowns, battered the economy and contributed to job losses.
Waving flags including the Israeli blue-and-white, protesters led by a young man with a bullhorn chanted “Bibi go home”. They also held up signs carrying a broad range of messages, from the need for a leadership “revolution” to mistrust in the police.
“We came to protest against a dictator,” Anat Gourelle, a 60-year-old lawyer from Tel Aviv, said of Mr Netanyahu. “It is outrageous what is going on in Israel. It is unthinkable that somebody is using his power to steal from his own people.
“We will keep on protesting until he gets out of Balfour,” she said, using the name of the Jerusalem street where the Prime Minister’s official residence is located.
Read the article by Ben Simon in The Australian.