protest in south Tel Aviv
protest in south Tel Avivצילום: עוטף תחנה מרכזית

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu condemned the burning of pictures of Interior Minister Aryeh Deri during a protest against the government's policy on illegal infiltrators last night.

"I respect the real plight of the residents of southern Tel Aviv. The government under my leadership, together with Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, is making unremitting efforts to remove the infiltrators from Israel, both in open ways and ways that [I cannot talk about]," said the prime minister.

"I condemn the improper act of burning the picture of Minister Deri. Such acts have no place here," Netanyahu added.

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said that "no protest does not justify the burning of pictures of ministers. These are acts that are suitable for other countries, not ours, and I expect the protest leaders in south Tel Aviv to condemn the act."

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein also responded to the burning of the picture and said, "The right to demonstrate is one of the most important in our democracy, but I condemn every act of violence. I support the just protest of the residents of southern Tel Aviv, but the burning of the picture of Minister Deri last night crossed a red line and cannot be part of anyone's agenda."

Shefi Paz, one of the organizers of the demonstration last night against the infiltrators, is not moved by the burning of the picture. "No one called for burning the flesh of Deri, and it would be good if his emissaries stopped whining. What we are going through dwarfs the artistic performance in protest against the Interior Ministry's incompetence."

"The day the Immigration Authority returns to work and we see the infiltrators from Africa and Eastern Europe disappear from our neighborhoods, we will consider apologizing. Until then we stand behind our protest," she clarified.