Thousands of demonstrators protested on Thursday various locations across the country, demanding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's resignation due to his indictments in three graft cases and his handling of the coronavirus crisis.
Protests' organizers claimed Thursday's rallies are expected to see a large turnout but warned that Netanyahu's supporters also circulated a call on social media to confront the protesters.
A group of Likud supporters in Holon held a counter-protest in support of Netanyahu. Activists of the far-right group La Familia reportedly had arrived at the scene and attacked the protesters, spraying them with an unknown gas. No protesters needed medical attention, according to police.
One of the protesters who came under attack said he will file a complaint at the Holon police station over the alleged assault. "They snatched my flag, spat on me, grabbed me by the arms, pushed us, and my kid was almost hurt. Luckily there were people here who took him," he said.
Clashes between demonstrators and Likud supporters have become increasingly violent in recent weeks. At the beginning of the week, four people were arrested in Holon after spraying demonstrators with tear gas.
Some protesters accused Netanyahu of not condemning violence against them and also directed their ire at his coalition partner, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, for not taking a harsher stance against the violence.
"The fact that the Israeli prime minister has not once condemned the violence against the protesters is a green light for violence against citizens of the country," they said.
"Gantz. who sits [in the government] with the national instigator, is also complicit for this disgrace. A government that incites against its citizens and leads to severe violence against them is a danger to the existence of the State of Israel."
Protesters are planning a massive rally in front of the premier's Jerusalem residence after national emergency measures expired on Wednesday, which restricted protests to groups of 20 and prayer sessions to groups of 10, and not farther than a one-kilometer (0.6-mile) distance from a citizen's home.