Tel Aviv police commander Ami Eshet announced her resignation on Wednesday, accusing Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration of pressuring police to use force against people participating in anti-government protests.
The massive protests were fueled by the government’s intention to approve a so-called “judicial coup”, a series of laws that would remove the Supreme Court’s power to strike down laws and leave Parliament without a counterweight. year.
In a statement on public television, Eshet said the “ministerial group” violated all rules and blatantly interfered in professional decision-making processes. Eshat said that to meet the expectations of politicians, he would have to order the use of excessive force, which would lead to “replenishment of emergencies”. [Hospital] Ichilov [de Telavive] At the end of every protest,” Reuters quoted him as saying.
“For the first time in three decades of service”, he continued, “I was faced with an absurd reality in which I was not required to ensure peace and order, but precisely the opposite”.
Effectively demoted for the chance to train the police force, ending his ambitions to lead the national police, the commander said he had paid “an intolerably high price to avoid civil war”. Haaretz.
After Eshet’s announcement, hundreds of demonstrators waved Israeli flags, which have become a symbol of the protest movement, and chanted “Democracy!” They took to the streets of Tel Aviv and many other cities, with crowds, for example, the highway leading to Tel Aviv.
Figures like Labor Party leader Merav Michali or former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (Likud, Netanyahu’s party) were also present at protests and had tense moments with police (in Olmert’s case, before agents realized who he was).
There were those who compared the situation to the massive protests that followed the resignation of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for criticizing the government’s plans for judicial reform (Netanyahu announced the resignation, but never did. So gave Gallant a retained letter). “Israeli leaders should learn from the Gallant case that Israelis don’t like the removal of the highest security posts for political reasons,” journalist Noga Darnopolsky commented on Twitter.
As the night progressed, water cannons were also used to disperse the protest that blocked traffic on the highway. In Jerusalem, authorities have declared protests illegal, sending police on horseback to disperse demonstrators and arresting people, increasingly More violence Many agents in this They lost their coolSome Israeli journalists reported on Twitter.