Thousands March In Tel Aviv To Protest Netanyahu, Corruption

Israelis take part in a demonstration under the name ‘March of Shame’ to protest against government corruption and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on December 9, 2017 in Tel Aviv. Image by JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images
TEL AVIV (Reuters) – Thousands of Israelis protested in Tel Aviv on Saturday for the second consecutive week against government corruption and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under criminal investigation over allegations of abuse of office.
Police estimated the number of demonstrators at about 10,000 and they followed last Saturday’s demonstration, which was by far the largest of the recent weekly anti-corruption protests when an estimated 20,000 people participated.
The protests have been sparked by corruption allegations against Netanyahu, who denies any wrongdoing. The four-term leader is suspected of involvement in two cases.
The first involves receiving gifts from wealthy businessmen and the second involves negotiating a deal with a newspaper owner for better coverage in return for curbs on a rival daily.
If charged, he would come under heavy pressure to resign or could call an election to test whether he still had a mandate to govern.
Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party said in a Facebook post that the protest was a left-wing demonstration. It called on all Israelis to back their prime minister as he defends Israel against international criticism following President Trump’s acceptance of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
“Instead of uniting with all the people behind Jerusalem and showing the world a unified front, the left cannot contain itself and it prefers to create division,” part of the statement said.
Over weeks of demonstrations, protesters have identified themselves as supporting both left- and right-wing parties. On Saturday they held banners reading: “Neither left, nor right (we demand) integrity,” “We are fed up with corrupt (politicians)” and “Sweep the corrupt away.”
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Most Popular
- 1
News Student protesters being deported are not ‘martyrs and heroes,’ says former antisemitism envoy
- 2
News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
- 3
Fast Forward Suspected arsonist intended to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a sledgehammer, investigators say
- 4
Opinion What Jewish university presidents say: Trump is exploiting campus antisemitism, not fighting it
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Israeli army fires deputy commander after finding ‘operational errors’ in killing of 15 Gazans
-
News Pope Francis, who advanced church’s relationships with Jews, dies at 88
-
Fast Forward ‘F–k Israel’ message displayed at Coachella music festival and streamed to millions
-
Fast Forward Jewish students, alumni decry ‘weaponization of antisemitism’ across country
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.