December 14, 2018

‘Yellow vest’ protests reach Israel as hundreds demonstrate in Tel Aviv

Inspired by French movement, activists blame government for rising cost of living and block a central junction; at least 10 arrested after confrontations with police

14 December 2018, 8:07 pm

'Yellow vest' protests reach Israel with hundreds marching against the rising cost of living in central Tel Aviv on December 14, 2018. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
'Yellow vest' protests reach Israel with hundreds marching against the rising cost of living in central Tel Aviv on December 14, 2018. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)


Hundreds of demonstrators blocked roads in central Tel Aviv for several hours on Friday afternoon in protest of a series of price increases, in the first Israeli installment of the “yellow vest” protest that has rocked France for the past few weeks.

Hoping to replicate the French success and to mobilize the masses in similar fashion to the 2011 social protests, some 600 protesters blocked the Azrieli junction and several adjacent roads while dressed in the signature yellow vests, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of “robbing” the people.

Some of the protesters attempted at one point to block the Ayalon Highway which runs through the city, and at least ten people were arrested on suspicion of disrupting public order and assaulting police officers.