Leftist rally in Tel Aviv
Leftist rally in Tel AvivMiriam Alster/Flash 90

Senior Likud activist Mordechai Benita on Sunday filed a complaint with the Israel Police for incitement to violence, over the mock guillotine which was displayed at the leftist anti-corruption rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday night.

"Everyone has the right to demonstrate but it is inconceivable that a demonstration would incite to violence against the prime minister," Benita said.

"I hope that my complaint will lead to an investigation of the lawbreaker who, to no one’s surprise, is being protected by his comrades on the left," he added.

"The guillotine in the square seeks to instill in the public consciousness a false and horrifying recognition that Israel has an undemocratic regime headed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. The time has come for the police to put an end to the incitement under the auspices of the left and the sooner the better,” concluded Benita.

Amit Brin, the demonstrator who carried the mock guillotine at the rally on Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Boulevard, on Sunday morning denied that he was calling for the murder of Prime Minister Netanyahu.

"I am a pacifist and I oppose any kind of violence," wrote Brin. "I have never used violence and have no intention of doing so in the future, and I ask anyone who interpreted what I said or did as a call to violence to stop and not to do so. Whoever understood from my words or actions that I call him or her to be violent was misled."

Brin also denied that his actions tarred the protest as a far-left gathering, writing that he did not represent anyone other than himself.

"I am not a member of any organization or movement," he stressed. "I do not contribute to or register in any party, nor take part in any organized political activity other than independent access to street demonstrations in order to realize the right to protest."

The mock guillotine was condemned by politicians from both the left and the right on Sunday.

President Reuven Rivlin said that "a few years ago they spoke about 'Facebook' democracy and said that people are not prepared to go out to the streets. Today we see people on the left and right going out to the streets to express their opinions. People are willing to leave their keyboards and express their opinions.”

"However,” he continued, “the display of the guillotine at the Tel Aviv demonstration wrongs the demonstrators and the democratic right to protest. This is clear incitement which crosses the borders of free speech and protest and I condemn the statements implied by this display."

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein (Likud) condemned the guillotine display, saying it "it crossed a red line and was revolting."

"I expect to hear condemnations from the opposition and that an investigation was initiated by authorities. This should not be ignored and I reemphasize today: It is permitted to demonstrate but not in any way to incite," he added.

Zionist Union leader Avi Gabbay said the guillotine display was forbidden incitement.

“The lunatic BDS activists don't even represent themselves and the guillotine is incitement which should not exist and deflects the discussion from the main topic which is corruption," he said.

Similarly, MK Tzipi Livni (Zionist Union) said such displays should “disappear from the streets”.

"I denounce this, it must disappear from the streets. Democracy means changing governments by non-violent means, period," she told Israeli public radio in an interview.