Multiple protesters arrested in demonstrations in front of A-G's home
By TAMAR URIEL-BEERIFormer prime minister Ehud Barak attends protests against Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit.(photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI)
Protesters were arrested in front of Attorney-General Avichay Mandelblit's home on Friday evening after allegedly breaking rules set forth by the police in advance, leading to a second round of protests attended by hundreds on Saturday night, including Democratic Union Party leaders such as its chairman, former prime minister Ehud Barak.During the protests, which took place in Petah Tikva near Mandelblit’s home as well as in Kiryat Ono, demonstrators violated rules by allegedly using megaphones and harassed police officers, calling them “Mandelblit rags.”Barak told Channel 13 that he had come to “make sure that the disgrace that occurred [there] does not repeat itself.” He argued that “all of the fairy tales that are told about ‘order violations’ are deceptions.”Several other leaders of the Democratic Union demanded that probes be initiated regarding the conduct of the police from the Friday afternoon protests.“On Wednesday, police instructions were released for the protests in the Kfar Ganim neighborhood in Petah Tikva,” the police said in a statement. “The instructions determined the location, time, and use of voice amplifiers in the protest.”On Friday, however, “a number of protesters arrived in Petah Tikva and violated the guidelines as they disturbed Mandelblit as he walked to synagogue, refused the request of the police officers to be accompanied to the police station, spoke through megaphones and bothered the police officers in their duties.”“The freedom to demonstrate, as a freedom in a democratic state, is limited,” Justice Minister Amir Ohana tweeted on Saturday night in relation to the protests. “The rules set by the police for demonstrations near the home of the attorney-general... are reasonable. Public figures also have families, neighbors and routines that they have the right to do (including praying at the synagogue on the Sabbath evening without interruption).”“Is it important to you to demonstrate facing a public figure?” Ohana said. “Do it in front of his office. Leave his family and neighbors alone.”
