Anti-gov’t protesters are ‘aligning themselves with Iran, PLO’ – Netanyahu

By painting an image of Israel as teetering on the edge of fascism and dictatorship, Netanyahu said, protesters are serving the agenda of Israel’s enemies.

By World Israel News Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that anti-judicial reform protesters are tarnishing Israel’s image in the global sphere and that their agenda is aligned with that of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Iran.

Hundreds of anti-government protesters gathered at Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday evening, as Netanyahu took off for a trip to the U.S. in which he’s expected to meet President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk.

Shortly before taking off, Netanyahu spoke to reporters on the tarmac about the ongoing demonstrations against the coalition, describing the movement as “anti-Israel.”

By painting an image of Israel as teetering on the edge of fascism and dictatorship, Netanyahu said, protesters are serving the agenda of Israel’s enemies.

“We are seeing protests against Israel by people aligned with the PLO and Iran,” said Netanyahu.

“Whoever organizes the protests does it with a lot of money and well-funded demonstrations. They have made it so that blocking roads is a normal thing, that [military service] refusal is a normal thing,” he added.

“They are defaming Israel before the world. It seems normal to them.”

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid immediately attacked Netanyahu for the comments, saying that “nothing helps the Iranians more than the ‘coup d’état’ of his government.”

Lapid added that Netanyahu’s “accusations against the patriots of the protest is more proof of the serious disruption to his judgment and understanding of reality.”

Shany Granot-Lubaton, an Israeli expat who has been active in organizing protests against Israeli coalition lawmakers during their visits to the U.S., claimed that Netanyahu’s statement was a “declaration of war” against diaspora and American Jews.

“It’s not enough that he is meeting with extremists who have harmed the Jewish community. He is putting the very lives of Israelis and the biggest Jewish communities in the world at risk,” Granot-Lubaton charged, in an apparent reference to Netanyahu’s expected meeting with Musk.

anti-government protestAnti-Netanyahu protestsBen Gurion AirportBenjamin NetanyahuJudicial reform