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Subscribers to the Berkeley Speakers Series certainly heard plenty of speakers Nov. 28, but not the one they paid to see — former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The relative ease with which roughly 300 to 500 pro-Palestinian protesters burst through police barricades, blockaded the gate leading to the Berkeley Community Theatre and forced the cancellation of Netanyahu's appearance incensed ticket-holders as well as members of the Jewish community.

Concerns for safety following the raucous protest led event promoter Bruce Vogel to cancel Netanyahu's subsequent engagements in San Mateo and San Rafael.

"I took a lot of trouble getting over here, I paid good money and I wanted to have the opportunity to hear a world leader," said David Kessell, who held a ticket for the Berkeley event. "I think the speakers series and the police ought to have opened up a path and let the ticket-holders in."

The Berkeley Police Department's press officer, Lt. Russell Lopes, said the overwhelming risk of injury precluded such an option.

He also said the relatively sparse presence of 50 to 60 police officers was because the department found out about Netanyahu's scheduled appearance only six days prior to the speech, having "absolutely never" been contacted by Vogel.

Yet both Lopes and Berkeley Police Capt. Will Pittman later confirmed that Vogel and the BPD had sat down together for a long and detailed meeting regarding security for the event on Monday, Nov. 27.

Nonetheless, with the majority of the officers assigned to a bomb squad, a SWAT team and other duties, Lopes estimates that as few as 15 and "no more than 20" were assigned to crowd control.

Vogel was reluctant to point fingers, but he said the blame was not all his.

"Whatever short notice there was, there was a plan — an elaborate plan we had all met and gone over on Monday in a lengthy, two-and-a-half hour meeting," he said. "We all agreed on this plan, and it was set up and espoused by the police.

"And the plan didn't work, as is pretty evident."

By 2 p.m. Nov. 28, a full six hours before Netanyahu's scheduled speech, Berkeley police were already combing through the theater and the surrounding Berkeley High School campus. Using electronic bomb detection devices and bomb-sniffing dogs on loan from other law enforcement agencies, the police secured the campus and theater. A SWAT team and bomb squad were on hand throughout the evening.

Yet, as the hour of the speech neared the number of protesters multiplied, and the small number of crowd-control officers were overmatched.

"It sounds like [the police] made an effort…but I still feel like they did have prior notice and I'm not sure that everything was done that could have been done," said Jonathan Bernstein, regional director for the Anti-Defamation League. On Nov. 30, he fired off a query to both Berkeley Mayor Shirley Dean and Police Chief Dash Butler, seeking an explanation.

"I'm asking questions, trying to dig up information about what happened. I want to give the city of Berkeley the benefit of the doubt," Bernstein said.

"I think all of us become concerned whenever we acquiesce to the demands of people who want to silence other people's right to free speech. It sets a very bad precedent."

Bernstein, who said the ADL was flooded with calls and letters about the cancellations, wondered why the Berkeley police had not made requests for backup to other law enforcement agencies. While the department did arrange for the loan of bomb-sniffing dogs, Lopes said that, on short notice, requesting additional officers was not possible.

"In order to do that, we have to go through the Sheriff's Department and it has to be done well in advance," said Lopes. "In an extensive immediate emergency, like, say, a riot or something, we can call the Oakland police or California Highway Patrol. But we can't call up the sheriff two days in advance and say, 'Hey, we need some cops.'"

The reasons why the protests got so out of hand — and, for that matter, who is responsible — remain unresolved. Yet the Berkeley Police Department, Vogel and Bernstein all agree that the aftermath of the protests is an embarrassment for everyone.

"We can't allow people on the fringe to dictate the agenda," said Bernstein. "When we do that, we're basically allowing a state of anarchy to occur."