25 Jun 2012

Demonstrators arrested in Tel Aviv

5:44 am on 25 June 2012

Demonstrators clashed with Israeli police on Sunday morning, smashed bank windows and blocked roads in Tel Aviv during a protest against the arrest of an activist on Friday.

Police said they detained 85 people at the rally, the latest sign of a nationwide protest movement demanding social reforms and affordable housing.

Demonstrators said they were angered after a protest leader said she had been injured while being taken into custody at a demonstration on Friday.

Hundreds of people gathered late on Saturday night and into Sunday morning.

Police said there over 1500 demonstrators and 85 were arrested at 3am on Sunday after roads were blocked and windows smashed at five banks.

Last summer, hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets and tent cities mushroomed across the country in an unprecedented campaign for economic and social reform that caught the government by surprise.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed a panel chaired by economist Manuel Trajtenberg which recommended raising welfare spending and lowering defence expenditure.