Car Hits Crowd in Tel Aviv for Second Day As Divergent Tensions Rock Israel

A day after a man rammed his vehicle into a crowd of shoppers in Tel Aviv, a car drove into a crowd of protestors Wednesday along the city's main highway.

The Tuesday incident was followed by a stabbing spree and was widely believed to be retaliation for the Israeli military’s large-scale raid on a refugee camp in Palestinian town of Jenin.

On Wednesday, the car struck a photographer in the midst of a large protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to reform the judiciary in Israel.

Only minor injuries were reported in Wednesday's incident.

Tuesday's car-ramming was clearly an attack, and together with the stabbings that followed, seven people were injured, three of whom remain in serious condition.

The attacker was shot dead by an armed civilian, and the Palestinian militant group Hamas claimed responsibility, saying in a statement that it was a “natural response” to the Israeli raid on the Jenin Camp on Monday. At least 10 Palestinians, including three children, were killed and over 100 injured in Jenin. 

Wednesday's incident came as protesters in Israel took to the streets in some 30 cities and towns after Tel Aviv's police commander resigned, citing political intervention by Netanyahu's government. Dozens of arrests were reported.

As the Israeli military pulled back from Jenin, protests broke out across Israel that had nothing to do with the raids or the Palestinian issue; they were all about moves by Netanyahu and his government to curtail the power of the Israeli judiciary.

The largest such protest was in Tel Aviv, along the Ayalon Highway, the city's main artery, with thousands of people and cars joining a march. It was along that highway that a white car was seen knocking over a photographer and proceeding down the street.

Some people in the crowd chased after the car, and the driver was arrested.

Israel’s police commissioner, Yaakov Shabtai, called the driver a "terrorist" and praised those who pursued him.

“Circumstances are being examined regarding his background and motive," Shabtai said, "and I would like to praise the activity of the citizen with a lot of courage, that he was able to thwart the attack and prevent the continuation of that terrorist’s killing spree.”