2 anti-Netanyahu protesters injured as rocks hurled at participants of weekly rally
Passersby attacked protesters at a weekly rally against former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in central Israel on Saturday, injuring two of the demonstrators.
Members of the left-wing Crime Minister group told the Ynet news site that the individuals arrived in a vehicle at Gesher Rishonim — a bridge linking the central Israel city of Rishon Lezion and the town of Ness Ziona — and threw stones at the participants of the rally.
Two protesters in their 60s sustained light injuries and were taken to Shamir Medical Center for treatment.
Haim Trivax, who suffered a head injury in the attack, told Ynet that two boys “who looked like brothers” attacked the group with stones, while an adult and a small girl watched from the side.
The attackers fled the scene before police arrived.
Crime Minister activists are campaigning to prevent the return of opposition chief Netanyahu as prime minister in the upcoming election on November 1, holding weekly rallies on Saturday evenings at dozens of bridges across the country. The group refers to the Likud party leader as the “crime minister” due to criminal indictments filed against him while he was in office. His corruption trial is ongoing.
שני מפגינים מתנועת “קריים מיניסטר” הותקפו אחר הצהריים במהלך הפגנה בגשר ראשונים. פונו במצב קל לבי”ח קפלן. @N12News pic.twitter.com/rKhldnz6Qw
— אור רביד | Or Ravid (@OrRavid) September 3, 2022
Police opened an investigation into the assault, and collected evidence from witnesses on the bridge.
Shuli Amir, one of the protest organizers, told the Haaretz daily that the group initially stopped below the bridge and began cursing at the demonstrators.
After the group didn’t respond, Amir said that one of the attackers got out of the vehicle and “threw stones from below towards the bridge,” but did not hit the protesters.
הנה @IL_police עזרנו לכם pic.twitter.com/RlelIUrpyb
— דמוקרטTV (@Democrat_TV) September 3, 2022
A short while after, the assailants arrived on the bridge with their vehicle and began to attack the protesters, he explained.
“This is a very serious incident,” Public Security Minister Omer Barlev told the Kan public broadcaster, adding that he had instructed investigators to prioritize the case.
Anti-Netanyahu activists have been physically attacked in the past by right-wing activists, particularly during the height of their demonstrations in 2020 when the now-opposition leader still held the premiership.
Recent polling indicates that neither the anti-Netanyahu parties nor factions loyal to the former prime minister are likely to garner enough seats in the Knesset to form a government after the upcoming election — the fifth since 2019.