Police detained 89 demonstrators after more than 6,500 people flooded Tel Aviv's Habima Square the night of June 23 to protest the arrest of Daphni Leef, a leader of last summer's mass movement against inequality [2] and the high cost of housing in Israel. Tel Aviv's district police commander Aharon Eksel told newspaper Haaretz, "Protesters crossed the line. They set out to clash with the police." Police also said the protest was illegal, because no permit had been applied for. Protesters responded that the lack of a permit was intentional, to make the point that permits are difficult to obtain. Clashes were reported from nearby Rabin Square, where protesters attempted to break into banks, and broke the window of one. The elite police "Special Forces" riot squad was mobilized to the scene. The gathering was publicized as an attempt to reboot last year's movement, under the slogan, "Emergency protest! Returning power to the people!" (Allison Kilkenny on The Nation [3] blog, June 25; Haaretz [4], June 23)
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