Unimpressed With Abraham Accord, Thousands Protest Against Netanyahu

Contrary to pundits’ predictions that the mass protests being staged almost daily against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu would diminish following the announcement of the normalization agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, known as the Abraham Accord, tens of thousands of Israelis flooded the streets on Saturday, reiterating their demand that the prime minister resign. Large numbers of demonstrators converged throughout the day on bridges and central intersections across the country, protesting Netanyahu’s handling of the coronavirus crisis and his alleged corruption for which he is currently standing trial. In the evening, more than 1,000 protesters demonstrated near the prime minister’s private residence in the fashionable coastal town of Caesarea, while again more than 10,000 citizens chanted anti-Netanyahu mantras near the official Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem. By morning, 11 protesters had been arrested for disturbing the peace after a group estimated in the hundreds broke away from the permitted protest route in an apparent effort to ignite a second demonstration at the nearby President’s Residence. Most observers could find little or no indication that news of the agreement with the UAE had any effect on the mass of marchers.