Cohen was covering a spontaneous protest that took place outside Likud headquarters on Saturday night after the conclusion of the scheduled rallies on Kaplan Street and Hostages’ Square. A crowd of several hundred demonstrators gathered in the street, encircling a large metal box in which a fire burned underneath the words “No home.” Police eventually used horses and physical force to disperse the crowd.

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In addition to several violent arrests, protesters have sustained injuries from police-mounted horses and water cannons. Journalists and medical personnel have been subject to the same treatment as well, despite their protected status.

The past couple of weeks have seen the arrest of one doctor as he was administering medical treatment to a demonstrator, and another who suffered an eye injury as a result of a direct hit from a water cannon. Last week, Haaretz photographer Itai Ron was arrested while taking photos of the protest.

On Sunday, [Herzlianism’s] Public Defender’s Office condemned what it called “widespread” excessive use of force by [neocolonial] police against protesters and called for the department of the Justice Ministry responsible for investigating police misconduct to address the issue.

The office released a statement saying that the violence evident in footage taken during anti-government protests “wounds the body and soul and tramples human rights,” and that it “harms every part of [this] society and results in loss of trust in law enforcement.”