'This birthday turned into a nightmare': Druze stabbing sparks Highway 6 protest

Druze protesters began a sudden demonstration on Sunday, blocking Highway 6 at the Elyakim Interchange after three young Druze men were assaulted, one of whom, an 18-year-old, was stabbed, outside a club in Tel Aviv on Saturday.

Israel Police reported that Highway 6 had been closed to traffic near the Elyakim Interchange in the southbound direction due to a protest.

Police from the Northern District and the Traffic Department are on the scene, directing traffic and working to maintain public order and reopen the road.

Police later announced that the protesters had been dispersed and that the road was open to traffic in both directions.

An initial police investigation revealed that an argument erupted among a group of young men inside a club on Kibbutz Galuyot Street in Jaffa, which spilled out into the parking lot, where one of the men was stabbed.

Three suspects were arrested and two knives were seized at the scene. A security guard at the club said he noticed a second suspect holding a knife, which he threw to the ground soon after the stabbing.

Following a hearing, one suspect was released to house arrest while the other two were remanded in custody until the next hearing.

The three young Druze men were there to celebrate a friend's birthday. The father of the Druze man who was stabbed said, "They went to the club to celebrate the birthday of one of their friends who serves as a soldier in the IDF. This birthday turned into a nightmare."

"My son said, 'We’re Druze; there are two soldiers here with me.' But because of his accent, they didn’t believe him," the father recounted.

During the attack, one of the young men, an 18-year-old due to enlist in the IDF in four months, was stabbed. The father had served as a career officer in the IDF, and his eldest son is still serving in the military, Israeli media reported.

Democrats party leader Yair Golan condemned the attack and visited the victims in hospital, saying, "The Druze and Arabs are an inseparable part of Israeli society, and anyone who attacks them is attacking the values that our country must uphold."

Golan blamed the rise in "violent racism" directly on National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

"The Israel Police will allow freedom of expression and protest within the bounds of the law; however, as with any protest, it will not allow events that may harm public safety or that might lead to a breach of public order," police said.