Israeli police block anti-Netanyahu protest and arrest organisers

Israeli Prime Minister is suspected of committing bribery, fraud and breach of trust

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied all allegations of wrongdoing (DAN BALILTY/AFP/Getty Images)

Israeli police have blocked a weekly protest calling on the country's attorney-general to charge its Prime Minister with corruption and arrested two of the organisers.

Thousands of demonstrators had been gathering near the home of attorney-general Avichai Mandelblit each week to protest his handling of a number of corruption cases involving Benjamin Netanyahu and his family.

But this week, police set up roadblocks to prevent demonstrators from reaching the area near Mr Mandelbit's home in Petah Tikva, which led around 2,000 protesters to show up outside the city's police station.

Two organisers, Meni Naftali, who used to work as a caretaker for Mr and Ms Netanyahu, and Eldad Yaniv, an anti-corruption lawyer, were detained.

Police spokeswoman Merav Lapidot told the Times of Israel the pair were not initially arrested and were only detained for questioning, but refused to agree to a voluntary restraining order barring them from the city for 10 days.

She said: “We wanted to release them but they refused to sign an agreement not to commit the same crime again. That seems to me like a completely reasonable request to make.”

Although the protesters did not have a permit, police allowed them to take place as long as there were no disturbances to public order and on the condition the demonstrators did not march towards the attorney general's house.

However, last week residents of Mr Mandelblit's neighbourhood complained to the High Court of Justice about the noise.

The police told the protesters they would need a permit until the High Court ruled on the petition.

The protests have been taking place now for 39 consecutive weeks over allegations Mr Netanyahu accepted lavish illegal gifts.

Israeli police confirmed the Prime Minister is suspected of having committed bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

He is also accused of offering commercial favours to a newspaper owner in return for positive coverage.

Mr Netanyahu has denied all allegations of wrongdoing and said they were politically motivated.