'Black Flags' protest - archive image
'Black Flags' protest - archive imageצילום: הדגלים השחורים

Police have arrested the driver who ran down a demonstrator at an anti-government protest in Tel Aviv Thursday.

The driver was apprehended Friday morning, hours after his car struck a protester during a road-blocking demonstration organized by the left-wing “Black Flags” movement.

After hitting the protester, the driver drove off, fleeing the scene.

Police opened an investigation into the incident, probing the possibility the ramming was intentional.

After being arrested, however, the suspect told investigators that he panicked after being stopped by protesters, and that he was trying to flee and had no intention of hitting demonstrators.

“I panicked, I felt like I was being surrounded and they were jumping on my car, so I fled.”

No formal complaint has yet been filed with police over the incident, and authorities have called on witnesses to come forward to speak with investigators.

“We call on any witnesses or people involved to file a complaint so that we can get a full picture of the incident,” police said in a statement.

Fifteen protesters were arrested at the protests in Tel Aviv Thursday night, after demonstrators blocked roads and refused to heed police calls to move.

The protester who was struck by the car Thursday night, Dorit Zak, spoke with Kan Bet Friday morning, calling the ramming incident an intentional attack.

“I feel fine, but I know that my body is flooded with adrenaline right now. I was bruised – I had the front of a car hit me in the stomach. I was sent flying and was thrown onto the road.”