The Israeli government’s controversial plans to overhaul the judicial system have been met with widespread opposition and weekly protests across the country. On Wednesday, protesters against the reforms took to the streets in cities and towns all over Israel, including in Tel Aviv, where clashes erupted between demonstrators and security forces.
Tel Aviv was also the scene of a rescue, when Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, found herself surrounded by protesters at a hair salon in the north of the city. As the scores of the protesters outside shouted “Shame!” but did not attempt to break into the premises, police officers were summoned to the location to extricate the premier’s spouse and escort her safely to a waiting vehicle.
Netanyahu himself denounced the violence in Tel Aviv in a televised address to the nation on Wednesday night, going so far as to compare the protesters against his unpopular plan to the settlers who rampaged through a Palestinian village in the West Bank on Sunday night, setting fire to property and threatening the local residents.
He backed off that comparison on Thursday, issuing a statement that said: “The only comparison that Prime Minister Netanyahu made between Huwara and Tel Aviv is that it is forbidden to take the law into one’s own hands anywhere.”