Police arrest 2 for allegedly attacking Democrats party activists in south Tel Aviv

Deputy mayor, who is running in left-leaning party’s primary, accuses Netanyahu of fostering a ‘new reality’ where she can’t canvass in city’s Hatikvah Market, a Likud stronghold

Police arrested two people for allegedly attacking activists with the left-leaning The Democrats party in south Tel Aviv’s Hatikvah Market on Friday, according to a police statement and footage from the scene.

Video clips from the market showed the activists had set up a stand and were accosted by at least two men who cursed at them, yelled at them to leave and overturned or kicked their equipment. One of the men could be seen in the footage hitting an activist.

The market is located in the Hatikvah neighborhood, one of the few Tel Aviv neighborhoods — all on the city’s lower-income southern edge — where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party received the most votes in Israel’s last national election in late 2022.

The activists included Tel Aviv Deputy Mayor Chen Arieli, who chairs the Israeli Gay Youth movement and is running in the Democrats’ July 20 primary.

Sharing footage of the incident, Arieli wrote on X: “Watch this video of the violence we suffered just now when I arrived with young Democrats activists to Hatikvah Market to speak openly and honestly, including with people who don’t necessarily agree with us.”

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“This is the result of the Netanyahu regime that sows hatred and division in the nation… and employs brainwashing to the point that we can’t even meet up to chat on a Friday afternoon,” wrote Arieli. “We were hit and spat at, but that won’t quench the hope that we have to fight for.”

התנפלות אלימה בשוק התקווה על דוכן של מפלגת הדמוקרטים, המשטרה עצרה שני חשודים. pic.twitter.com/o29dMueSO3

— מה חדש. What's new❓ (@Gloz111) July 3, 2026

In a video filmed later at a Tel Aviv police station, Arieli said she and other activists were filing a complaint “against whoever dared raise a hand against Democrats activists.”

“I know Hatikvah Market intimately. I know the residents — these are people I get up for every morning and do my utmost as deputy mayor,” Arieli said, accusing Netanyahu of having fostered a “new reality” where she was violently prevented from canvassing there.

In a statement, police said they had arrested two suspects who allegedly took part in the attack after officers were called to the scene following a report of “physical and verbal violence.”

The two suspects were taken for questioning, police said.

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