JERUSALEM (AP) – Hundreds of Israelis protested on Saturday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging the longtime leader to resign just days after the country was plunged into a new national election.
Protesters have been gathering outside Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence for months, slamming him for treating the coronavirus pandemic and saying he cannot lead the country while being charged with fraud, breach of trust and bribery in three cases. separate from corruption. Netanyahu denies wrongdoing.
The protesters had signs asking Netanyahu to “Go” and declare “We will not stop protesting until you come out of our lives.”
While turnout was lower than previous demonstrations amid colder weather, protesters have a new impetus as Israel moves to a fourth election in two years in March, in which Netanyahu faces new challenges from the deserters. from his conservative Likud party.
The election will likely be another referendum on Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader and also one of its most polarizing. It will come immediately after Netanyahu’s trial enters the probationary stage, which will likely file allegations of corruption against him firmly in public discourse 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 rising infections. Critics say Netanyahu and his so-called “emergency” government – set up specifically in the spring to deal with the virus – have stalled their response, leading to another costly blockade.
Netanyahu points to the country’s current vaccination campaign, which is among the largest numbers of inoculations per capita in the world, as a way out of the country’s global health crisis.