Israeli police officers scuffle with demonstrators during a protest outside the prime minister's official residence in Jerusalem, July 14, 2020. (Flash90/Yonatan Sindel)
The demonstrations are painted as apolitical, caused by the mishandling of the corona crisis, but that is only part of the truth, says Hebrew daily.
By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
Prominent leftist organizations and individuals are backing the recent anti-government demonstrations that are billed as apolitical and spontaneous, according to an Israel Hayom article Thursday.
The “Zazim” organization, which calls itself a non-partisan movement “brought together by shared values of human rights, combating the occupation and racism,” is one of the groups behind the protests in front of the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem.
Last September, the Likud petitioned the Elections Committee for a restraining order against Zazim, since it publicized its past success in ferrying thousands of Arabs and Bedouin to the polls as a way to “give a second chance to a Jewish-Arab blocking bloc.”
Groups active in election activity and which receive donations from foreign entities must register on the State Comptroller’s website. Zazim hadn’t done so, said the Likud.
According to the organization’s reports, the New Israel Fund and Rockefeller Foundation are two of its backers. These groups financially support a wide range of anti-Israel and extreme leftist groups such as Breaking the Silence and Jewish Voice for Peace.
On its Facebook page, it said that it was behind some of the signs at Tuesday night’s protest that compared Netanyahu’s government to the coronavirus plague.
Standing Together, a left-wing organization whose stated goal is to topple the Right from power, was also involved in the protests, said the Israel Hayom report.
The demonstration, which was described by Jerusalem District Police Commander Doron Yedid as a “left-wing protest,” degenerated into violence, with protesters clashing with police and illegally blocking streets in the capital.
One organizer, who openly identified himself as a leftist, attempted to pin the blame for the violence on “right-wing provocateurs,” telling Israel Radio’s Reshet Moreshet on Wednesday that the violence was caused by “pro-Bibi activists” who come regularly to anti-government protests to cause trouble.
Other individual leaders with long records as leftist activists involved in the protest were Orly Bar Lev and Brig. Gen. (res.) Amir Haskel. Haskel, who heads the Black Flag movement that aims to oust Netanyahu, created a media storm after being arrested and jailed two weeks ago for blocking streets in an earlier demonstration.
“If my arrest and that of two more friends ignited a fire, the price was worth it,” he said at a press conference after his release.
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