A few hundred anarchists blocked Ayalon Highway in Tev Aiv beginning on Wednesday evening for five hours and set fires on the sides of the highway in response to the political speech of Tel Aviv District Police Commander Ami Eshed earlier on Wednesday, who resigned from his position after refusing to heed orders to stop treating left-wing protesters with kid gloves. The protest dissolved into total anarchy as police failed to control protesters who destroyed property such as barriers and construction equipment that they threw into the fires. At 6 a.m. on Thursday morning, police finally forcibly evacuated the area with the aid of water cannons and arrested 16 protesters, including a protester who hit a police officer on his head with his helmet and another protester who hit two police officers on their heads. A car that attempted to forcibly pass through the protest lightly injured a protester and other protesters shattered the windshield of his car. The driver, as well as another driver who drove through, were later detained by the police. The dramatic incident was captured on live TV by Kan News, as seen below: Journalists and social media users couldn’t help but contrast the restraint the Tel Aviv police showed to the protesters to the complete lack of restraint they showed to “others” in the past – including Charedim and Dati Leumi “settlers”. Some even posted videos of police violence by Tel Aviv officers, such as the ones below, at a protest in Bnei Brak. Coalition politicians slammed the police for allowing anarchy to rule the streets of Tel Aviv. Religious Zionism chairman Betzalel Smotrich said: “There is no reason that justifies the selective enforcement that manifests itself in the use of large forces and arrests at right-wing, Chareidi, settler or Ethiopian protests compared to the left-wing protests that include setting fires and blocking major roads without any response. This is not democracy!” Protests took place in other areas throughout Israel as well, including Jerusalem, outside the home of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and in the area of the President’s Residence. Unlike Tel Aviv police, Jerusalem police forcibly dispersed the protesters, with police later stating later that the protesters clashed with drivers who arrived at the scene, disturbed public order, and tried to create conflicts with police officers. Nine were arrested, including four who attacked officers with batons and lit a bonfire on the street. The protests were triggered by the resignation of Tel Aviv District Police Commander Ami Eshed, who was reassigned from his position to another post by Police Commissioner Kobi Shabati and National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir for refusing to heed orders to disperse illegal left-wing protests in Tel Aviv. Eshed, despite admitting that he treated left-wing protesters in Tel Aviv with kid gloves and ignored Israeli law, which bans the blocking of major highways, resigned his position rather than accept his new position and turned it into political ammunition. In an unprecedented move for a state employee in uniform, he held a dramatic political performance, calling a press conference at which he claimed he was dismissed for political reasons and for his “choices to prevent civil war.” His speech was slammed even by left-wing politicians as well as senior police officers, who according to a Maariv report, slammed him for “painting a picture of the […]
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