09/03/2025September 3, 2025Israeli ministers, police slam Jerusalem protesters for setting fires

Ministers from Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet and Israeli police have condemned protesters who set fire to dumpsters and tires, close to the prime minister’s office and residence in Jerusalem.

Demonstrators have taken to the streets of Jerusalem calling for the release of hostages held in Gaza and an end to fighting there. 

The fires quickly spread to parked cars, police said in a statement on Telegram, adding that “a number of residents” had to be evacuated from nearby buildings. 

“These actions have nothing to do with lawful protest, they are the acts of lawbreakers behaving like criminals,” police said, according to Israeli daily Times of Israel.

In a post on X, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right minister of national security, described the fires set by anti-war protesters as “a wave of terror arson.”

Ben-Gvir also accused Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara of encouraging the violent protests and of wanting to “burn down the country.”

Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who is a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, denounced the protests as “terrorism.”

Levin dismissed Baharav-Miara last month, before the High Court ruled earlier this week that the move was illegal.

In her role as attorney general, Baharav-Miara will act as chief prosecutor in Netanyahu’s upcoming corruption trial, which is slated to start in November.

“Today’s events once again illustrate the duty of the entire government to stand behind the decision to dismiss Baharav-Miara and complete the appointment of David Zini as head of the Shin Bet. This is the path that will lead to prosecuting the arsonists and those who incited them. This is the path to putting an end to lawlessness in the streets,” Levin said, according to the Times of Israel.

Culture Minister Miki Zohar, also from Likud, called for Israeli authorities to take “a strong hand against the violent rioters,” adding that the “enemy is rubbing its hands with pleasure” at the sight of burning tires and dumpsters.

“Israel is a state of law, and anarchy must not be allowed here,” he said on X.