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“Crime minister.”

That was the moniker repeated on sign after sign during a day of protests against Benjamin Netanyahu in the Bay Area Monday. Punchy and memorable to both Israeli and American audiences, it also summed up the way hundreds of demonstrators, from both countries, view the current political leader of the Jewish state. A man who, to them, is synonymous with corruption, the abuse of power and the trampling of Israel’s foundational ideals.

It was the Bay Area’s largest pro-Israel, pro-democracy protest since UnXeptable, a movement formed by Israeli expats living in the area, started holding them with regularity in February.

The day was the culmination of detailed advance planning from UnXeptable and its allies, who obtained permits from officials in multiple jurisdictions. They shared hundreds of messages over private WhatsApp groups and Facebook event pages in the days leading up to the event.

Though Netanyahu has been to the U.S. many times before, nothing about this visit was normal, said Offir Gutelzon, UnXeptable co-founder. He spoke to J. in a hurried conversation in a Fremont parking lot around 9:20 a.m. UnXeptable had already held three protests, beginning before dawn.

“He’s indicted. He’s doing a judicial coup,” Gutelzon said, criticizing Netanyahu’s efforts to weaken Israel’s judiciary and his indictment on bribery charges. “We are not letting him spread his lies, and his message that everything is fine,” he added. “The difference is that we are here.”

A protester crosses the street outside the Tesla Fremont Factory Monday morning.

More than 100 demonstrators gathered to protest Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including his administration's embrace of far-right parties. pic.twitter.com/Px94FPuzdD

— Gabe Stutman (@jnewsgabe) September 18, 2023

Hundreds of mostly Hebrew-speaking demonstrators began to crowd the sidewalks outside San José Mineta International Airport after 5 a.m.

They shouted through megaphones, beat drums, pumped air horns and chanted as the El Al Boeing 787 carrying Netanyahu, aides and members of the Israeli press soared through the sky before touching down at 5:53 a.m.

Dan Barak, 44, a tech worker originally from Petah Tikvah, has been living in the U.S. for about 15 years. He said his presence at the airport was “mostly an act of solidarity with my family and friends” back in Israel.

“They put their lives on hold. They go and demonstrate every week. When we have the opportunity to help out a little bit, we take advantage of it.”

Protesters gather outside the Tesla factory in Fremont in anticipation of Netanyahu’s arrival pic.twitter.com/H7xMjV7FN4

— Gabe Stutman (@jnewsgabe) September 18, 2023

Since the height of the Covid pandemic, thousands of protesters have poured into the streets in Israel to decry Netanyahu for his multiple corruption scandals. This year, protests have intensified.

After Netanyahu consolidated power in the Israeli Knesset with the help of far-right parties, he promised to chip away at the power of the Israeli judiciary, a priority of the right wing. Israel’s Supreme Court has served historically as a bulwark against far-right nationalist and religious laws.

Netanyahu sees weakening the Israeli Supreme Court as a democratic priority, arguing that his coalition was elected and the Supreme Court wasn’t.

Rotem Pool carried a sign calling Netanyahu a “coward” and an “outlaw” in Hebrew, standing in a mass of protesters outside the airport.

Bibi Netanyahu leaves San Jose airport via motorcade around 6:30 am. More than a hundred demonstrators chant “shame! Shame!” Now the march to Starbucks.. pic.twitter.com/qN6rzdTTTZ

— Gabe Stutman (@jnewsgabe) September 18, 2023

“Bibi and his crazy government are trying to ruin the rule of law,” she said.

A helicopter circled overhead as the plane taxied. Soon, dozens of black cars, SUVs and vans, escorted by police vehicles, poured out of the airport exit.

The crowd noise swelled as protesters strained to lift their signs into a position where they might be seen by Netanyahu or his aides. A giant banner held by more than a dozen people faced the motorcade. It read: “Netanyahu tears Israel apart.”

The purpose of Netanyahu’s visit was to highlight Israel’s capabilities and interest in developing AI and to meet with the technologist Elon Musk, one of the world’s richest men whom Netanyahu has compared to Thomas Edison. The Israeli leader met Musk at his Tesla factory, a sprawling campus in Fremont that employs tens of thousands of workers.

The two held a heady conversation about artificial intelligence, its promise and its dangers.

While the emphasis of their talk was on technology, the massive demonstrations following Netanyahu —  from the airport, to his hotel, to the factory in Fremont, and eventually back to the airport for his departure to New York — complicated any simple narrative. On Monday evening the prime minister planned to fly to New York City to attend this week’s U.N. General Assembly and meet with President Joe Biden. Large protests were planned there as well.

The conversation between Musk and Netanyahu was broadcast live on X, formerly Twitter. The two agreed that AI has tremendous potential to improve human civilization, and it also presents unprecedented dangers. The “blessing and the curse,” Netanyahu said, quoting Deuteronomy.

LIVE: Speaking with @elonmusk about how we can harness the opportunities and mitigate the risks of AI for the good of civilization. https://t.co/XiAQwOXzcP

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) September 18, 2023

More than a half-hour into the discussion, Musk brought up the demonstrations.

“As you saw, there’s some protesters outside,” he said with a sheepish chuckle. “To be frank, I’ve probably got the most amount of negative pushback from people at Tesla about this interview than anything else I’ve ever done. If you could take a few moments to address, primarily the judicial reform question.”

“Well, it’s a good opportunity to tell people who are protesting, so at least they know what they are protesting about,” Netanyahu said acerbically.

He gave a long answer that stretched back to the time of Plato and Socrates, whose point was that a truly democratic society is preferable to one where the “philosopher is king.”

“Israel was, is, and will always be a robust democracy,” Netanyahu said.

Protesters again crammed onto sidewalks outside the factory, hoping to catch Netanyahu as he entered the facility. Police officers interacted in a friendly fashion as they kept people off the rocks, a feature that separates the sidewalk from the factory grounds. “It’s Tesla property,” one officer said.

Some demonstrators brought challah, cheese, vegetables and other snacks.

Many abhorred Netanyahu’s decision to meet with Musk. The CEO has been criticized for echoing antisemitic tropes in comments about George Soros, for threatening to sue the Anti-Defamation League, and for taking a lax approach to regulating hate speech on his platform.

Moti, a demonstrator who declined to provide his last name, said he wasn’t surprised.

Democracy! shouts from @UnxeptableD protest against @netanyahu in Union Square in #SF @jewishsf pic.twitter.com/hfXklxh916

— Aaron Levy-Wolins (@alevywolins) September 18, 2023

“Bibi is meeting all the big antisemites around the world,” he said, naming Victor Orban, the nationalist prime minister of Hungary. “So what’s new?”

Netanyahu defended Musk against allegations of antisemitism during their conversation.

The day continued hours later with a major demonstration in San Francisco’s Union Square, bringing Bay Area Jewish leaders together with Israeli expats who had organized the protest.

Tye Gregory, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area, addressed the more than 100 demonstrators, most waving Israeli flags.

“I’m proud to be here as a Reform, gay, Zionist Jew,” Gregory said to applause. “The last identity being the most important.

“Any time the Jewish people have been so divided that we can’t see one another — bad things have happened to us. We have to find a way forward. We have to find democracy.”

Senior leaders of Congregation Emanu-El, San Francisco’s largest synagogue, were also represented. Rabbi Sydney Mintz blew the shofar.

The mood was defiant, and passionate. Demonstrators represented ages across the spectrum. Some elderly folks came using canes or wheelchairs.

Norm Frankel, a 70-year-old with Parkinson’s who needed two walking sticks to get around, said he had lived in Israel for more than 20 years and maintained a strong connection to the country.

A smattering of anti-zionists are here at the pro-Israel, pro-democracy protest in downtown San Francisco. The main demonstration is against the policies of the current administration in Israel pic.twitter.com/MXsUQr3n1V

— Gabe Stutman (@jnewsgabe) September 18, 2023

“Bibi is destroying the country, only to protect himself,” he said.

When asked about the effort it took him to get to Union Square, he said, speaking slowly, “it was worth it.”