Protesters on the Ayalon highway
Protesters on the Ayalon highwayBen Cohen

Hundreds of anti-government protesters blocked the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv on Wednesday in response to the resignation of Tel Aviv District Police Chief Deputy Commissioner Ami Eshed.

During the demonstration, protesters shattered the windshield of a vehicle that hit a protester while attempting to pass. According to the police spokesperson, the driver broke through the protesters, and police detained him.

The demonstrators lit flares on the road and waved flags and signs. Police forces in large numbers arrived at the scene in order to clear the highway.

An hour after the protesters began to block the highway, the police used a water cannon against the protesters. Ami Eshed's deputy, Assistant Commissioner David Filo, is presiding over the police operations at the demonstration.

About four hours after the protest began, officers were finally able to disperse the demonstrators. A demonstrator hit a police officer in the head with his helmet during the evacuation.

The police said two demonstrators were arrested during the evacuation on charges of attacking officers.

Additional demonstrations took place across the country and the demonstrators blocked major roads, including the Shilat intersection near Modi'in, Highway 6 near the Elyakim interchange and the Karkur intersection.

In Jerusalem, demonstrations were held outside the Prime Minister's private home and in the vicinity of the President's Residence. The police declared the demonstration illegal and, unlike what happened in Tel Aviv, the police demanded the demonstrators leave the area and violently confronted them.

The police claimed that the protesters confronted drivers who arrived at the scene, disturbed the peace and tried to create confrontations with police officers as well. Four protesters were arrested after they used batons against the policemen and lit a bonfire on the road.

The demonstration comes several hours after outgoing Tel Aviv District Police Chief Deputy Commissioner Ami Eshed, who had been assigned to transfer to command the Israel Police Academy, announced his resignation in a politically charged speech.

"I was removed from my post on political grounds by phone call," Eshed stated in his speech, still wearing his police uniform. "33 years of service, in the most difficult of jobs that exist in the police force, when I'm near the finish line in the race for commissioner, all went down the hole at once. All this because I insisted my officers follow the law."

Earlier this year, Eshed was subject to a round of criticism for allowing anti-government rioters to block the Ayalon Highway. In his resignation speech, Eshed discussed the criticism: "I could have easily met expectations, to use unwarranted force and to fill the emergency room at the end of every demonstration in Tel Aviv. We could have cleared the Ayalon in minutes, for the terrible price of broken heads and shattered bones, for the price of destroying the trust between the police and the citizens."

Later in his speech, he stated: "Unfortunately, for the first time in my three decades of service, I found myself in a crazy reality, where quiet and order are not achievements that are demanded of me, but rather the opposite it."

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir responded harshly to Eshed's words: "Today, we saw a dangerous crossing of the line which we've been warning about for months. The seeping of politics into the highest ranks in Israel and the total surrender of an officer in uniform to political officials on the left."