News / Palestine

Hundreds of Israelis protest against Netanyahu policies

Sunday, 13 November 2016 5:49 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 13 November 2016 6:39 AM ]

Israelis hold a demonstration against the policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on November 12, 2016.

Hundreds of Israelis have held a demonstration in central Tel Aviv to vent their anger at the policies of hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Saturday’s protest was organized by the Israeli Labour party and a number of left-wing parties such as Meretz.

Demonstrator Uri Wertman said Netanyahu “has launched vicious and slanderous attacks against journalists and tried to close down the broadcasting corporation.”

The event came a few days after the Israeli premier declined to be interviewed by a Channel Two anchorwoman for an overview of his administration’s performance and the role of his wife, Sara, in appointing officials.

In a statement released afterwards, Netanyahu’s office claimed that the interview was part of a plot to topple his administration.

The accusation comes at a time when Netanyahu and his associates in the Likud party have come under fire for their efforts to close the Israeli broadcasting corporation and set up a successor.

There has also been widespread coverage of abuse allegations by housekeepers against Sara Netanyahu.

“What we see is an across-the-board attempt by Netanyahu and his government to control all forms of media,” said Elad Man, legal adviser of media watchdog the Seventh Eye, adding, “I don’t think we should even try to imagine what will happen … if those attempts succeed.”

Elsewhere in his comments during Saturday’s rally, Wertman said Netanyahu’s policies pose a danger “to the entire Middle East.”

The picture taken on November 3, 2016 shows a partial view of the illegal Israeli settlement of Gilo in East Jerusalem al-Quds. (Photo by AFP)

Netanyahu’s administration “continues building in the settlements, in the occupied Palestinian territories, and it attempts to annex them in order to prevent the establishment of the independent Palestinian state,” he added.

Over half a million Israelis live in more than 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem al-Quds.

The Tel Aviv regime has defied international calls to stop its unauthorized construction activities, with its settlement expansion being among the main reasons behind the collapse of the last round of the so-called Middle East peace talks in 2014.

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