Thousands of Israelis protested Saturday outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official residence in Jerusalem as well as his private home in Caesarea, as part of ongoing demonstrations calling to unseat the premier over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic as well as the corruption charges facing him.
Israeli media reported some 25,000 people came out to protest in front of the Prime Minister’s Residence on Jerusalem’s Balfour Street. Smaller protests also took place outside his private residence in the coastal town of Caesarea and along bridges, highway overpasses and intersections around the country.
Protesters chanted “Bibi Go home!” – referring to Netanyahu by his nickname.
A statement by protest organizers, the Black Flags movement, read:
This is the seventh week in a row that civilians across Israel join the protests against Netanyahu, calling on him to pack his bags and resign after his utter failure in handling the health crisis.
Instead of preventing a second wave, Netanyahu has been dealing with tax deductions for his family and for himself.
Netanyahu came under fire when the Knesset’s Finance Committee agreed to a June request for a tax refund.
Netanyahu has accused the Black Flags of being funded by former prime minister Ehud Barak, who has been an outspoken critic of the current premier.
Last month, Breitbart News reported an NGO called “National Responsibility” founded by Barak associates had given tens of thousands of shekels to the Black Flags movement. National Responsibility also received tens of thousands of dollars from a company in which Jeffrey Epstein was a shareholder.
Many protesters on Saturday night dressed up as extraterrestrials, mocking the prime minister’s son Yair Netanyahu, who earlier in the week denounced the protesters as “aliens.”