More than two thousand people attend 1st post-recommendations weekly protest
Protesters attending first weekly protest after police published recommendations to indict PM Netanyahu for bribery call on AG Mandelblit to expedite handling of decision whether to indict; former police chief Hefetz in attendance to provide support for Alsheikh, police's struggle against 'swamp of corruption.'
More than two thousand people participated Friday afternoon in the 65th consecutive protest against governmental corruption in Tel Aviv, the first to be held on Friday instead of Saturday night as well as the first held following police's recommendations to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for bribery.
Protesters called on Avichai Mandelblit to expedite the legal handling of the prime minister's cases, as he is now tasked with the decision of whether to actually indict the premier.
Signs carried in the demonstration said, "Crime minister," "Corrupt, go home," "Neither Right nor Left but straight," "Government of the people and not of capital" and "Bibi under investigation is a danger to Israel."
Acclaimed author Dorit Rabinyan spoke at the protest and said, "The main content promoted by the Israeli leadership contains anxiety, fear mongering, the allure of shady practices and wheeling and dealing. They are not true leaders, and certainly not of a people so lost and so in need of guidance. Their historic memory, vision and the things they truly care about exist precariously in the thin space between the attorney general's two investigations."
Former Police Commissioner Assaf Hefetz attended the protest to lend his support. "I can't see a single public official continuing to carry on his tasks under these circumstances," he said. "It's true (Netanyahu) is to be presumed innocent, but not necessarily in office."
"It was my opinion two months ago that he should have taken a voluntary leave of absence with hundreds of thousands of shekels worth of gifts. We're here to trumpet proper norms, not the substandard ones in the Knesset plenum. This is the precisely the climate nurturing the swamp of corruption," the former police chief opined.
Hefetz also touched on Prime Minister Netanyahu's attacks against current chief Roni Alsheikh and the detectives who investigated him. "Netanyahu is using microphones to attack police. Handicapping law enforcement authorities is a central element of the swamp of corruption and should not be allowed," he said.
"In no other time in history were the police chief and law enforcement attacked in this manner by a prime minister," Hefetz objected, adding, "From my talks with Alsheikh, I can say he's an honest man attempting to do his job. I, as former commissioner, and all other past commissioners support him."
"Do what you think is right for the law, the public and the country—and not for any politician," Hefetz advised.
Providing his first comments on the recommendations Thursday, Attorney General Mandelblit gave his unadulterated support for police as well. Brushing off claims of tensions or confrontations between law enforcement officials, he added, "I reject unequivocally claims alleging anything other than professional motives behind the investigations, or any purpose other than discovering the truth and preserving the rule of law."
On whether the prime minister should take a leave of absence, Mandelblit said, "It's up to him at this stage. I have made no such suggestions to him. While the (police's) recommendations do mean something, they have no legal power (of their own). If we get to that point, we'll have to reexamine the matter, and it's complicated."
