Israel Police on Tuesday morning arrested a man suspected of throwing two burning torches at police officers at the violent protest in front of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s residence last week.

The suspect, a 45-year-old resident of Tel Aviv, is a one of the leaders of the Achim L’Neshek (Brothers in Arms) protest group and a candidate of the Chozeh Chadash party for the Tel Aviv municipality.

According to the police, the protest turned into a violent riot and protesters attempted to forcibly break through the police barriers near the prime minister’s residence.

At about 9:30 p.m. the suspect threw a burning torch at a mounted police officer, hitting the horse. Fortunately, neither the police officer or the horse was injured. The police suspect that the same man threw another torch that evening at police officers [which did not hit anyone].

The suspect was brought to the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday and the court agreed to the police’s request to extend his arrest for four days.

The judge said that “protesting is the core of democracy but putting human and animal lives in danger is not democratic and may lead to anarchy.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)