JERUSALEM (AP) – Hundreds of Israelis protested against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, calling on the long-serving leader to step down, days after the country plunged into a new national election.
The protesters have been gathering outside Netanyahu’s hometown in Jerusalem for months, beating him for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying he cannot run the country while being charged with fraud, breach of trust and taking bribes in three separate corruption cases. Netanyahu denies wrongdoing.
Protesters held signs urging Netanyahu to “go,” stating “We will not stop protesting until you are out of our lives.”
Although voter turnout was lower than previous rallies in colder weather, protesters have gained momentum as Israel appears to be heading for the fourth elections in two years in March, in which Netanyahu faces new challenges from defectors from his conservative Likud party .
The election is likely to be another referendum on Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader and also one of the most polarizing. It will come just after Netanyahu’s trial enters the weight of evidence phase, which is likely to firmly bring the corruption allegations against him into public debate during what is expected to be a bitter, divisive campaign.
Saturday’s protest came a day before Israel enters its third national coronavirus blockade, again shutting down much of the economy amid rising infection numbers. Critics say Netanyahu and his so-called “emergency” government – set up specifically in the spring to deal with the virus – have screwed up their response and led the country to another costly incarceration.
Netanyahu points to the country’s current vaccination campaign, which ranks among the world’s highest per capita vaccination rates, as a way out of the global health crisis.