Earlier on Wednesday, Tel Aviv District Police Chief Ami Eshed announced his resignation. According to himself, he must have been deposed for political reasons.
– With my head held high, I pay an unacceptably high price for my choice to avert a civil war, he said, according to Haaretz, in a televised speech.
Times of Israel writes that critics accuse the former police chief of not being tough enough during the spring protests, when regular demonstrations were held against the Netanyahu government’s attempts to change the judiciary.
Protester injured by water cannon
In Jerusalem, a protester was reportedly injured by police water cannons and taken to hospital. The demonstration has been declared illegal after participants approached Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence.
Also in Tel Aviv, police are using water cannons and protesters blocked the major Ayalon highway for some time. Like previous demonstrations this spring, protesters lit fires in the street. Later, the police announced that they dispersed the crowd on the road. Haarets also writes that a car drove into the crowd that blocked traffic, but that the driver was then arrested.
On social media, video clips of police beating and dragging protesters are being circulated. In one of the clips, a mounted policeman hits protesters with a telescopic baton on Ayalon road.