Thousands of Israelis gathered at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds on Wednesday night to show their support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the face of ongoing investigations. The prime minister himself told the crowd the left could not break their spirit:
“They can’t beat us at the ballot box, so they figured they would bypass democracy and topple us without elections,” Netanyahu told the massive crowd.
Others spoke at the event as well, which was packed to the rafters in spite of an effort by members of disabilities organizations who demonstrated at intersections leading to the Fairgrounds in an attempt to disrupt the rally.
Members of the Bayit Yehudi party, as well as all the government ministers and Likud Knesset members were also in attendance at the rally, as were numerous others.
“Our prime minister is a tzaddik, and forgive me for telling you, but the media is disgusting,” said one supporter.
“I took a break from my job so I could come to this event,” said another. “It says it’s good for all brothers to sit together — this investigation is not right. Stop destroying our unity. Bibi will be our prime minister until 2035.”
The prime minister has been harried by one investigation after another over the past several years, as has his wife Sara; in the past several weeks, police pressure led a former aide to sign an agreement to testify as a “state witness.”
All Likud ministers attended Wednesday night’s event, which was billed as “A Thousand and One Nights.”