Dozens of left-wing activists from the "Black Flags" protest group arrived on Monday morning to demonstrate in front of the home of MK Gabi Ashkenazi (Blue & White) in Kfar Saba.
The protesters demanded that Ashkenazi cease all negotiations toward forming a unity government with the Likud party and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
“It's about time Ashkenazi and [Benny] Gantz woke up and realized what a laughingstock Bibi [Netanyahu] is making of them,” one of the organizers said. “We came to protest with the intention of protecting Israeli democracy and the rule of law. Ashkenazi and Gantz's intention to join a criminal under indictment to form a government would be the destruction of Israeli democracy," he said.
"It's not over yet," another protester added. "It’s not too late for Ashkenazi and Gantz to join the rest of the camp that believes in Israeli democracy, and start to work to eradicate corruption."
Police who arrived at the scene dispersed the protesters, stating that the demonstration was in violation of Health Ministry regulations. Brigadier General (Res.) Amir Haskel, who was given a fine of NIS 5000, said: "A policeman approached me and pulled me away, saying that I had violated the health regulations, and he gave me a fine of NIS 5000. It’s an outright lie. We were keeping sufficient distance from one another."
He added that, "In a democracy, the right to protest is fundamental and the attempt to undermine protests against corrupt government shows what difficult times we have come to."
Earlier, MK Moshe Yaalon (Yesh Atid) contacted MK Benny Gantz, chairman of the Blue & White party, and urged him to stop negotiating with Likud. "Benny, it’s already clear that your pure intention to form an emergency government has met up with the cynical deceit of a criminal who is trying to evade justice. If you agree to his demands then you will become a partner in his attempts to consolidate his hold on power, and you will be abusing the mandate you were given by the voters and betraying the values that once united us. It's not too late to regret your mistake," he added.