Israeli security forces remove protesters holding a sit-in during a demonstration against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.  (Photo: AFP)

Jerusalem, December 6 (RHC)-- An 82-year-old protester has been “accidentally” killed by a car during the latest round of protest rallies against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to media reports.

Dror Soffer, the elderly protester, was severely wounded after being hit by a car in the Tel Aviv suburb of Kiryat Ono, and was rushed to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead on Saturday evening.  He was the father of Facebook Israel CEO Adi Soffer-Teeni, according to Hebrew media reports.

The Israeli police insists that it was an accident, and there was no suspicion that Soffer had been intentionally run over.  However, Israeli media have identified the driver as a 20-year-old female Israeli soldier who was cooperating with authorities.

Weekly protests against Netanyahu and his cabinet have been held at intersections around the occupied territories for months.  Protesters demand their resignation over his corruption trials and his failure to combat novel coronavirus.

Meanwhile, alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz, leader of the Blue and White Party, said on Saturday that the rift between him and Netanyahu is almost certain to lead to another round of elections and that the Knesset will soon be dissolved.  

Gantz accused Netanyahu of putting his own interests before those of the regime, of excluding Blue and White from governmental processes and of acting as if he was heading a Likud-led coalition rather than a unity cabinet.  “Netanyahu has wasted half a year of public trust. The reason we’re heading to elections is because he chose to take us there,” said Gantz.

He said Israel doesn’t need a fourth election, but Netanyahu has not advanced anything, and is engaged in “manipulation and lies.”

From April 2019 to March 2020, Israel held three rounds of elections, but political parties in the regime reached a stalemate. It was finally resolved when Likud and Blue and White reached a coalition agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, the premiership would rotate between Netanyahu and Gantz, with the latter given the new position of Alternate Prime Minister until November 2021.