“Israelis” Protest Against Bibi’s Dictatorship amid Virus Control Measures

By Staff, Agencies

Hundreds of “Israelis” have held protests against what they believe is a dictatorship led by “Israeli” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he banned gatherings over the coronavirus outbreak.

The protesters gathered Thursday in front of the Knesset in the occupied al-Quds [Jerusalem], to decry measures by Netanyahu and his allies in the government to shut down the courts and the parliament, moves that many say are meant to postpone his long-awaited trial over charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

Protesters held banners, reading “No to dictatorship" and "crime minister," urging Netanyahu to allow the trial to go on.

Netanyahu is leading a caretaker government after he failed to gain a majority in three general elections in one year.

Opposition leader Benny Gantz has been mandated to form a new government but Netanyahu’s stay-at-home policy announced amid the coronavirus outbreak in the occupied territories has made a change of office effectively impossible.

A total of 573 infection cases have been identified so far including 74 Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank. However, no one has died of the virus, provoking criticism that Netanyahu has gone too far to impose measures similar to a full lockdown.

“Israeli” police said they had made several arrests during the Thursday protest while blocking movement of cars and convoys of protesters seeking to approach the Knesset building.

The opposition Blue and White party has reacted angrily to a Wednesday decision by Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein to dismiss a sitting of the legislature because of Netanyahu’s virus-related orders.

Yair Lapid, a senior figure in the party, said the move, as well as the closure of the courts to allegedly postpone Netanyahu’s corruption trial, showed that the “Israeli” entity had effectively turned into a dictatorship led by an unelected group.

“There is no judicial branch in ‘Israel’. There is no legislative branch in ‘Israel’. There is only an unelected government that is headed by a person who lost the election,” Lapid said in a video message.