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‘Pushing hatred and panic’ – Protesters, cops clash at Likud conference

In a statement, the police said that protesters had “violently attacked” officers, refused to obey commands to disperse, and caused significant damage to the hotel.

By World Israel News Staff

Police clashed with anti-judicial reform protesters who gathered outside of a Likud party conference in the central Israel city of Ra’anana on Monday evening, with several demonstrators claiming they were injured in the fray.

A number of senior Likud officials, including Public Diplomacy Minister Galit Distal-Atbaryan and Energy Minister Israel Katz, were slated to speak at the conference.

Hundreds of protesters initially gathered outside of the hotel where the meeting was held, blocking traffic, holding signs, and chanting. Eventually, police pushed the demonstrators out of the way so that Distal-Atbaryan could enter the building.

That move appeared to anger the protesters, who then forced their way into the hotel in order to berate the minister. Officers then physically removed the demonstrators from the conference hall.

“Look what eight months of pushing hatred and panic have done. Watch this video and tell me if this appears sane to you,” Distal-Atbaryan wrote on X, alongside a clip of the clashes between police and protesters.

Some protesters told Hebrew-language media that they had been injured by police during the melee and said they were seeking medical attention at local hospitals.

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In a statement, the police said that protesters had “violently attacked” officers, refused to obey commands to disperse, and caused significant damage to the hotel.

Rotem Degani, a local resident, wrote on social media that her parents had been caught up in the chaos while dining at the hotel. She said that her mother’s headscarf, which indicates that she is a religious Jew, triggered harassment from the protesters.

“My mother and father went to a dinner date at the hotel’s restaurant,” she wrote. “The scarf on my mother’s head was apparently so frightening to the protesters that they had to attack her, curse her, and threaten her.”

The demonstrators told Degani’s mother to “take that rag off your head, along with a variety of other curses,” she wrote.

Degani said her parents have lived in the city for 35 years, but due to her mother’s religiously observant appearance, protesters told them that they “don’t belong” in Ra’anana.