After attacks that left dead: New mass protests announced in Israel

After the recent attacks, the protest movement in Israel is holding on to its mass demonstrations. Protests are expected in four cities in the evening. Prime Minister Netanyahu called on his government to unite.

A day after the attacks in Tel Aviv and the West Bank, the protest movement against the government’s controversial judicial reform has announced that it will continue its mass demonstrations across the country tonight. An Italian tourist was killed on Friday evening. At noon, two young Israeli sisters died.

Referring to the escalation of violence in the past few days, an appeal reads, among other things, that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government had been warned in every conceivable way by leading members of the security services and by Defense Minister Yoav Galant of the destructive effect that “you coup for Israel’s security and deterrence”.

The protest movement has called for demonstrations in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Be’er Sheva and Jerusalem in the evening. The keynote speaker in Tel Aviv is said to be Israel’s former defense minister, Moshe Ya’alon.

The assassin only had a toy gun with him

Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered the call-up of reserve units from the border police and army reservists immediately after the Tel Aviv attack on Friday evening.

According to the police, a 44-year-old Arab-Israeli drove his car into a group of people on the popular beach promenade in Tel Aviv at 9:30 p.m. A spokesman for the Israel Rescue Service said after the operation at the scene of the attack, the victim was a 30-year-old man who was seriously injured. “Unfortunately, despite our best efforts to save his life, he died on the spot.”

All other people were taken to hospitals in Tel Aviv. “It later turned out that all the patients were tourists who were walking on the sidewalk and unfortunately got caught in a terrorist attack.” The fatality is a young lawyer from Rome. Seven other tourists suffered minor to moderate injuries.

The assassin, a father of five daughters, grabbed a gun and was shot dead by a police officer. The daily newspaper “Ha’aretz” reported, referring to police circles, that the man had no weapon in his vehicle, but rather a toy gun.

Netanyahu calls for unity

According to Israeli media reports, Prime Minister Netanyahu has meanwhile called on his government members to unite. Channel 12 TV reported on Friday evening that Netanyahu said in an internal consultation with senior cabinet members that Israel must avoid major conflicts on multiple fronts. There are enough internal disputes and “we are challenged by the opposition and the street”. Unnecessary quarrels within the government must be avoided.

Two weeks ago, the prime minister fired defense minister Galant but tacitly kept him in office. Galant had publicly warned of the consequences of the mass demonstrations against the judicial reform for the readiness of the armed forces and called for a dialogue with the protest movement.