Thousands protest Israel's PM ahead of election

Thousands protest Israel's PM ahead of election

Thousands of Israelis demonstrated outside the residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Saturday, calling for an end to his leadership just three days before the country's fourth election in two years.

Bryan Wood reports.

Thousands of Israelis demonstrated outside Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem on Saturday.

Protesters filed through streets closed to traffic waving flags, banging drums and blowing horns.

They shouted chants to replace the 71-year-old conservative, just three days before the country's fourth election in two years.

"This is our last chance before the election.

We want everyone to come and vote to change, vote to exchange this government.

Three days from now, there will be election and we would like to see a change." Israeli media reported the crowd was nearly 20,000 people, one of the largest anti-Netanyahu protests this year.

Netanyahu faces mounting pressure in the run-up to the March 23 election.

He is on trial for corruption, and faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

Netanyahu has repeatedly dismissed the charges as politically-motivated.

His right-wing Likud Party is expected to win the largest number of seats in parliament, but opinion polls predict no clear majority, similar to the previous three elections.

Netanyahu hopes his rapid vaccination rollout program, along with a series of normalization agreements with Arab countries will give him a boost needed to secure the majority in parliament, and win him a sixth term in office.