Violent clashes at demonstrations against the prime minister are likely to end in bloodshed, Public Security Minister Amir Ohana warned on Sunday.
Ohana spoke to the Kan public broadcaster a day after thousands took part in demonstrations throughout the country against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Several people were arrested at the largest rally in Jerusalem as police clashed with protesters. Three others were arrested in separate incidents for attacking demonstrators in the capital and at other locations.
“There is a feeling and high probability that it will end in bloodshed,” said Ohana, who has reportedly pushed for the Jerusalem demonstrations to either be banned or relocated away from their usual location, outside the prime minister’s official residence. “I am really worried by the hate in the air.”
Ohana has claimed several times in recent days that the protests are part of a trend of “incitement” against Netanyahu that he says is worse than the lead-up to the 1995 assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.
The minister said that he condemns violence, no matter which side of the public discourse it is coming from, though he singled out the anti-Netanyahu protesters for blocking roads, which he said was a form of violence.
He also raised concerns that the demonstrations, which have been held almost nightly in Jerusalem over the past week, are a danger due to the spread of the corona virus. Ohana noted that other types of public gatherings have been banned to prevent the virus spread.
On Saturday Ohana said he expected police to act in an “equal manner” against protesters from different communities, amid the sustained protests in Jerusalem against the premier.
The comment came after Ohana, whose office oversees the police, reportedly accused police last week of being too soft on the Jerusalem demonstrators relative to other protests — particularly by minority groups — in which police have sometimes been accused of using excessive force.
Source: “Arab 48”
