Ethiopian immigrants protest at Netivot junction
Ethiopian immigrants protest at Netivot junctionReuven Sagron/TPS

Thousands of members of the Ethiopian community demonstrated on Monday evening in several central parts of the country, protesting the death of a member of the community, Solomon Tekah, who was shot by an off duty policeman in the Kiryat Haim neighborhood of Haifa on Sunday night.

Hundreds of demonstrators rioted near the Zevulun police station in Kiryat Haim, injuring three policemen as they threw rocks and fireworks at the police station.

The police dispersed the rioters using stun grenades. Police forces are deployed in the area to prevent harm to public order, life and property.

Earlier, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu responded to the death of the Ethiopian man and said at an event at the President's Residence, "Our cohesion in trying times and in the moments leading up to trying times, is – in the end – the key to our strength. I regret the tragic loss of life of Solomon Tekah in Haifa last night. We all send condolences to his family.”

“I spoke about this today with the Acting Police Commissioner, who promised me that a major effort was being made to arrive at the truth as quickly as possible. The Ethiopian community is dear to all of us. We have made a great effort in recent years to optimize its integration into Israeli society, and we still have much work to do,” added Netanyahu.