Police Commissioner Kobi Shabbtai commented on the left-wing protest Saturday night in Tel Aviv and supported the police officers who worked to clear the road at the time.
“Something happened to Israel on October 7th, and a great wound was torn into the heart of our people. We are obligated to find the balance between keeping the law and order and the requisite sensitivity in the complex situation in which the state finds itself.”
“None of us will allow the mother of a hostage or a bereaved father to be injured while attempting to express their pain. The police always have a hard job to do, and occasionally meet with hypocrisy. Now our job has become even more difficult.”
“On the other hand, there is unfortunately a group that is not part of the bereaved families that managed to drag us into pictures we did not want to see, did not obey the agreements made with them, and provoked confrontations with police officers.”
"I call on this group to come together and keep the public order and laws so as to allow the freedom of protest in a balanced, sensible, and fitting way, without disturbing the daily routines of hundreds of thousands of residents.”
“I call on every commander - we are officers into complex situations. The officers are doing holy work with endless devotion. We will give them the tools to contend with their assignments and stand by them.”
“We must not focus on the masses, but rather on the person who is before us, and do everything possible to keep the law. Even more important though, is to insure that the person in front of us will return safe and sound to his home. We will continue to ignore the politicized calls attempting to drag the police into divisive disputes, and we will continue to act faithfully for the state. This is a ask more complex than any other, but I trust the commanders and officers of the Israel Police to complete it.”
The department for investigating police officers opened an investigation yesterday and to a video of a police horseman striking a protester on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv
In the protest on Saturday night, the police used a water cannon for the first time since the war broke out to clear the road.
Police claimed that protesters who were not among the families of the hostages blocked traffic and sat down on the road. The police announced that they had arrested 21 individuals for disturbing the peace, including activists Moshe Radman and Amir Haskel.
A police commander announced that the protest was illegal and ordered that it be dispersed. “In light of the continued disturbances of the peace, police forces used crowd control equipment to clear the road,” the police stated.