20,000 Israelis protest at Netanyahu’s official residence

Thousands of Israelis demonstrated in Jerusalem last night at Prime Minister Netanyahu’s residence. According to the Israeli media, there were about 20,000 protesters, the largest rally of the year.

With elections in Israel in three days, protesters are demanding Netanyahu’s resignation. The 71-year-old prime minister has long been embroiled in a corruption case. He is in court on bribes and fraud. Netanyahu contradicts all charges.

Critique of the corona approach

While Israel has one of the fastest vaccination campaigns, Netanyahu’s approach to the corona epidemic has also been criticized. The economy has been hit hard by a number of severe locks. Many of the protesters have lost their jobs.

Netanyahu’s supporters see the vaccine campaign as a determination by a strong leader to defend Israel’s interests on the world stage. The majority of adults in Israel are already fully vaccinated against the corona virus and the number of infections continues to decline.

Next Tuesday’s elections will be the fourth in two years. Netanyahu’s Likud party is doing well in the election, but the question is whether it can form a coalition with a majority in parliament.