At least 21 people were arrested at a protest on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv demanding new elections, Israel Police said Saturday night, with protesters saying police acted with excessive force, including an incident in which a mounted police officer whipped a protester on the head.
In their statement, the police said, "We continue our efforts to maintain public order in the face of protesters who continue to confront the Police and refuse to obey our instructions in an attempt to block major roads that harm the routine of residents of Tel Aviv and the surrounding area."
"Following the violations of public order, the demonstrators who were not part of the planned protest approved by the police confronted the police officers and continued to block roads," the statement continued.
During the removal of the demonstrators, measures were used to disperse demonstrations, including water cannons, according to reports.
The police ended their statement, saying, "Israel Police considers the right to protest as a cornerstone in a democratic country and allows protests as long as they are held within the framework of the law; at the same time, the police will not allow disturbances of any kind or damage to freedom of movement and any behavior that may endanger the safety of the public."
תיעוד: פרש משטרה מצליף בראשו של מפגין בקפלן@galdjerassi pic.twitter.com/neU5iqggvV
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Israel Police also referred to detainees as "troublemakers" in their statement, adding that "a number of protesters came with the purpose of confronting and hurting police, not for legitimate protest."
Videos from bystanders and Israeli media showed police forces whipping protesters as well as other forms of force.
'Voice of protesters will only grow stronger'
Opposition leader Yair Lapid condemned the violence at the protests on Saturday night, saying: "Tonight's police brutality against the demonstrators, including the families of the hostages, is dangerous and anti-democratic and cannot continue. The right to protest is a fundamental right and it cannot be denied to the protesters with batons and water cannons."
Hofshi Be'artzenu (Free in Our Land), an umbrella group for the movements calling for elections, condemned the violence on Saturday, saying, "In the spirit of the minister of the government of destruction, the police used water cannons and mounted police in a direct formation against citizens who were standing on sidewalks and did not resort to any violence.
"The voice of the citizens of Israel who are demanding to replace the failed leadership in the country's history will not be silenced; it will only grow stronger," the group said.
Moshe Radman, one of the central activists in the protests and one of the leaders of the anti-judicial reform demonstrations last year, was filmed after being arrested on Saturday night stating "We only have a few weeks to dissolve the Knesset and kick out this government."
Dr. Elai Hogeg Golan from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, who was seriously wounded on October 7, spoke at the protest on Saturday night, saying "I was sedated for almost two months and since then I've been in rehabilitation. We fought for our lives. Every day, every hour – and now – it's time to fight for our future; for this country that we love so much.
"When I woke up, I woke up to another country," Golan said: "A country that experienced an unimaginable loss. A country that has lost its trust in its leadership. A country whose prime minister nurtured Hamas for years, allowed the enemy to burn the fields, shoot rockets at the border communities, and refuses to take responsibility for the failure. Everyone is guilty, except him.
"I am shouting here today in the name of my friends, my family, my kibbutz, the hostages: Return the mandate to the people! Go to the polls now!"
Protests demanding elections were also held by the Shomrim al HaBayit HaMeshutaf organization (Safeguarding Our Home) in Jerusalem in front of the President's Residence.