Israeli protesters demand Benjamin Netanyahu must go

Demonstrators have taken to the streets in Israel, demanding the departure of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been indicted for corruption.

An anti-Netanyahu protester in Jerusalem. Picture: AFP

Thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets in Israel, demanding the departure of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been indicted for corruption.

Thousands rallied outside the Prime Minister’s official residence in Jerusalem on Saturday (Sunday AEST), while hundreds more protested in Caesarea, where Mr Netanyahu has a private home, and in other parts of Israel.

Protests demanding that Mr Netanyahu resign over several corruption indictments and his handling of the novel coronavirus crisis have been mounting in ­recent weeks.

They usually take place on Saturdays after Shabbat and despite concerns over crowds gathering as the country faces a spike in virus cases.

Police remove protesters blocking a main road during a demonstration against the Israeli government near the Prime Minister’s residence in Jerusalem. Picture: AFP

Ya’ara Peretz braved a heatwave in Jerusalem to rally, saying that the protest movement ­reflected that many Israelis were fed up with Mr Netanyahu.

“Protesters share a common point, they want a deep change in the (political) system,” she said.

Israel won praise for its initial response to the COVID-19 outbreak, but the government has come under criticism amid a resurgence in cases after restrictions were lifted starting in late April.

Mr Netanyahu has acknowledged that the economy was re-opened too quickly. On Thursday, Israel announced a new lockdown affecting 30 areas as it grapples with one of the world’s highest ­detected per capita infection rates and a death toll nearing 1000.

The protests came after Palestinians slammed Serbia’s decision to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. One senior Palestinian official said the decision made “Palestine a victim” of US President Donald Trump’s re-election hopes.

“Palestine has become a victim of the electoral ambitions of President Trump, whose team would take any action, no matter how destructive for peace … to achieve his re-election” in November, tweeted Saeb Erekat, the secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).

“This, just like the UAE-Israel agreement (to normalise diplomatic ties), isn’t about Middle East Peace.”

Traditionally, most diplomatic missions in Israel have been in Tel Aviv as countries stayed neutral over the disputed city of Jerusalem until its status could be settled in an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

But Mr Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017 and shifted the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the city. Australia followed suit several months later.

AFP