According to Israeli police, who were mentioned by local media, three people have been detained as part of an ongoing investigation after far-right organisations were seen abusing Palestinian Israeli citizens who were passing by pro-government demonstrations in Jerusalem.
One guy reportedly suffered “savage” beatings during the attacks on Monday night, which came to an end after a day of widespread demonstrations against government proposals to change Israel’s court.
In the midst of a general strike, hundreds of thousands of people came to the streets starting Sunday night and continuing on Monday. Before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the delay of the move, pro-government protesters also gathered in different locations of the nation.
Jerusalem and Tel Aviv saw the biggest demonstrations from both camps, raising concerns about potential hostility between the two factions.
According to reports and videos posted on social media, right-wing demonstrators in Jerusalem harassed Palestinian drivers and bystanders while holding rallies.
A cab driver outside a petrol station and a young man passing by the demonstration on Jerusalem’s Yitzhak Ben Zvi Boulevard were among those assaulted, according to the Israeli newspaper Times of Israel.
Social media users posted a video of a sizable group of what appeared to be protesters and security personnel barging into a Jerusalem petrol station.
Another brief video depicts a Palestinian who looks to be caught up in a right-wing demonstration before security personnel rescue him.
Another supposedly showed demonstrators blocking a Palestinian driver’s way while chanting and waving Israeli and Likud flags.
Far-right Itamar Ben Gvir, the minister of national security, had supported the demonstrators who had taken to the streets in favour of the judicial reforms.
On Twitter, he stated: “Today the right ceased observing and being silent. The right generally ignores protests and participates actively in elections. Nevertheless, this is what happens when they attempt to have our vote cancelled, when they try to take the election results from us, or when they claim that our vote is of inferior quality.
He added a picture from the pro-government rallies as well.
One of the biggest internal crises in Israeli history has been sparked by the governing nationalist religious coalition’s plans to give the executive control over judicial appointments while giving parliament the authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions. Over the past few months, there have been large-scale protests against the proposal.
After a remarkable weekend in which Defence Minister Yoav Gallant was fired for warning that the divides brought on by the plans had harmed the military and were endangering national security, it was decided to halt the makeover.
His firing by Netanyahu sparked new, large-scale demonstrations, and Israel’s President Isaac Herzog pleaded with lawmakers to hold off on passing the revisions.
