JERUSALEM (AP) – Hundreds of Israelis protested on Saturday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling on longtime leader to resign just days after the country was immersed in a new national election.
Protesters have been gathering outside Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem for months, warning him of his treatment of the coronavirus pandemic and saying he cannot run the country while accused of fraud, breach of trust and acceptance of bribes in three separate cases of corruption. Netanyahu denies the faults.
Protesters held placards urging Netanyahu to “go” and declared “We will not stop protesting until you come out of our lives.”
Although turnout was lower than previous demonstrations in a colder climate, protesters have a new impetus for Israel to appear in its fourth election in two years in March, in which Netanyahu faces new challenges from deserters. of his conservative Likud Party.
The election is likely to be another referendum on Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader and also one of the most polarizing. He will arrive just after Netanyahu’s trial enters its probation phase, which will likely firmly file corruption charges against him in public speech during what is expected to be a bitter and divisive campaign.
Saturday’s protest came a day before Israel entered its third national coronavirus blockade, with much of the economy closing again amid a growing number of infections. Critics say Netanyahu and his so-called “emergency” government, set up in the spring specifically to deal with the virus, rebelled against his response and led the country to another costly shutdown.
Netanyahu points to the country’s current vaccination campaign, which is among the highest per capita inoculation figures in the world, as the country’s exit from the global health crisis.