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Far-right soccer fans attack anti-Netanyahu protesters

Members of Beitar Jerusalem soccer team fan club La Familia are now demonstrating against anti-Netanyahu demonstrators and even chasing them away.
A protester wearing a bandana around the mouth stands with others holding up a sign (R) reading in Hebrew "'siege' on Balfour"" (referencing the street near the Israeli Prime Minister's residence) and "on the head of the thief the hat burns" (proverb), during a demonstration against the Israeli government near the Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem on July 25, 2020. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been targeted by a huge wave of protests that has swept across the country over the last few weeks. Apart from protesting the corruption charges facing the prime minister, demonstrators are also protesting the flailing economy and the government’s alleged mishandling of the coronavirus crisis. The biggest protest so far took place Aug. 1, when more than 10,000 demonstrators gathered outside the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem.

What really set this demonstration apart, however, was that opponents of these protests were joined by a new group, La Familia, which represents the most extreme fans of the Beitar Jerusalem soccer club. The group is made up of members of the far-right, notorious for their abject hatred of Arabs and the left.

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