Israelis protest against Netanyahu while maintaining social distancing

Thousands of protesters assembled in Tel Aviv's emblematic Rabin Square while keeping two meters distance from each other, on Sunday night to demonstrate against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's continuing rule.

 

According to The Times of Israel, over 5000 people attended the "black flag" demonstration.

Several thousand more people participated in virtual versions of the rally on Facebook and Zoom, due to coronavirus fears.

Addressing the crowd Sunday, Yesh Atid-Telem leaders Yair Lapid and Moshe Ya'alon both accused Netanyahu of destroying Israeli democracy and said their former ally, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, was allowing it to happen by seeking to join him in government.

"They are fighting to get into the government," Lapid said of his former partner. "Telling themselves stories. They say, 'We'll fight from the inside.' You won't fight from the inside. You don't fight corruption from within. If you're inside, you're part of it."

The protest comes days after, Israel's parliament was tasked with forming a government after speaker Gantz and Netanyahu missed a deadline to seal an alliance.

Israel's deeply divided 120-member parliament has no clear path towards a stable governing coalition.

( With inputs from ANI )