Likud supporters and New Hope activists began pushing and shouting at one another at Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market on Sunday evening, when Jerusalem city council member and number 13 on the New Hope Party list Ofer Berkovitch visited the shuk with party leader Gideon Sa'ar.
מועמד תקווה חדשה עופר ברקוביץ' הותקף במהלך סיור בשוק מחנה יהודה בירושלים | תיעוד@shemeshmicha pic.twitter.com/G7500vHKEz
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) March 14, 2021
“Only Bibi!” shouted Likud supporters as they gathered around the delegation and shoved Berkovitch, a video tweeted by KAN showed.
The iconic market is a favorite spot for politicians who wish to show how close they are to the Israeli people and is often visited by them to gain public favor while campaigning.
The attack arrives on the heels of an incident Saturday night when a group of New Hope activists were allegedly assaulted by pro-Netanyahu activists.
The Likud activists allegedly surrounded Sa’ar’s car and tried to damage it. They threw eggs and other projectiles at New Hope supporters, one of whom had to be evacuated by ambulance.
The Likud activists insulted New Hope supporters, calling them traitors among other names, and used loudspeakers to disrupt the rally.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself described the March elections as a chance to form a right-wing government without all the “sickness,” meaning his own coalition partners Blue and White, hinting that to support any party but Likud would be an “unhealthy” thing to do.
Transportation Minister Miri Regev went so far as to say that anyone who does not vote for Likud is an “ingrate.”