Last Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was rushed to a secure compound at his residence in Jerusalem together with his wife and others people who were inside the house last Saturday, and stayed in the secure area for 30 to 45 minutes under the supervision of the Shin Bet, News12 reported Friday (פרסום ראשון: מפגינים פרצו מחסום – רה”מ ורעייתו הוכנסו למתחם מאובטח).
According to the report, the demonstrators who had arrived around 4 PM on Jan. 2 for their weekly protest against the prime minister breached a police blockade on Smolenskin Street near the official residence. Eight demonstrators were arrested in the incident, and Shin Bet security guards decided to bring Netanyahu and the rest of the people in his company into the secure compound to avoid taking a risk. When it became clear that there was no threat to the prime minister, the emergency was lifted.
Thousands of demonstrators took part in last Saturday’s protest for the 28th time in a row. The demonstrators blocked the back entrance to the residence, at the corner of Balfour and Smolenskin Streets, and waved a sign bearing the slogan “Balfour Siege.” The protesters said at the time that the Jan. 2 demonstration received a high response from participants countrywide following an attempt to set fire to their protest tent two days earlier. Police said a total of 11 arrests were made during the Jan. 2 rally.
According to Netanyahu’s office, in response to the breach, security was tightened around the PM’s residence, including a new barbed wire fence that was erected at the breached checkpoint on Friday, Jan. 8. That part begs the question, why did they wait a whole week to block the perimeter and did it have anything to do with the Jan. 6 breach of Capitol Hill in Washington DC. The groups of anti-Bibi demonstrators found the coincidence to be questionable.
Kan 11 reporter Akiva Novik commented on the news saying he believes the special 730 unit which is in charge of Netanyahu’s security did decide to secure the PM and his family and guests on Saturday, Jan. 2, but noted that these moves are routine and that the leaking of the story to the media would not have been done had the Capitol Hill breach not taken place.
A Twitter user named (((Sym)))bian^4 posted these three videos, ostensibly from that Saturday, Jan. 2 clash on Smolenskin Street outside Netanyahu’s residence. It certainly looked raucous and violent, but in all three videos police appear to maintain their control on the perimeter and no demonstrator is seen getting near the fence. Again, the Shin Bet would have been correct not to take chances under these circumstances, but if the Capitol police had shown as much grit as the Israeli cops, the Jan. 6 catastrophe would have ended without any victims and without hundreds of lawmakers being forced to flee for their lives away from the unruly mob.
[PLEASE NOTE: It appears that Twitter has deleted the account and tweets with the videos.]
הדקות הראשונות מהפייסבוק של . תשפטו בעצמכם. בלי תיווך. pic.twitter.com/q9XS759vIR
— (((Sym)))bian^4 (@Symbian4)
— (((Sym)))bian^4 (@Symbian4)
While the extended videos have apparently been deleted from Twitter, we’ve found one from the beginning of the event and a partial video from Kan News.
משפחת נתניהו הועברה לחדר צדדי במעון בבלפור כשמפגינים פרצו גדרות בשבוע שעבר pic.twitter.com/OTQxW3gBDO
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news)
The Black Flags movement responded with the statement: “Netanyahu’s attempts to compare the protesters [against him] to the Trump supporters are a direct continuation of the Netanyahu family’s campaign of incitement. Demonstrations will take place tomorrow (Jan. 9 – DI) for the 29th week in a row, 29 weeks in which there were more than 400 documented assault cases against the protesters. We will continue to fight for Israeli democracy in a non-violent protest – as always.”
The Crime Minister movement stated: “The prime minister’s incitement and lies against the protesters crossed a red line today. No checkpoint was breached and the protesters demonstrated legally in a public street outside one of the entrances, and we have documentation of this. We have no doubt that if the prime minister and his wife entered a secure room, it was a product of the systematic madness prevailing within the Netanyahu family. It is inconceivable that the media give a hand to these lies without checking the facts. For half a year we have been holding a non-violent protest in Balfour and we will continue to protest this way every Saturday in Balfour until the corrupt man goes away.”