Police used a water cannon against dozens of demonstrators who blocked the main entrance to Jerusalem today during traffic disruptions across Israel in protest at a planned pullout from the Gaza Strip.
"Jews don't expel Jews," the protesters, including children, shouted before they were hit by the high-pressure water blast and police moved in to handcuff and remove them.
At intersections and highways across Israel, mostly teenage demonstrators sat down in the middle of the road, halting traffic until police, who were already deployed at many of the locations, moved in to drag them away.
Many of the protesters were religious Jews and wore backpacks containing clothes and other personal items to take with them to police lockups in case of arrest.
At least 25 people were taken into custody in Jerusalem. There were no immediate arrest figures for other cities.
The protest followed similar highway blockades a month ago against Israel's plan to begin evacuating all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank in mid-August.
"We will not allow a fellowship of gangs to drag the country downhill," a government official quoted Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as saying during a cabinet meeting.
Mr Sharon instructed police to take all necessary steps to prevent road blockages. Government officials said some 6,000 police were deployed to remove protesters.
"We fear that these demonstrations will become violent. Blocking intersections is dangerous and can cost lives," Effi Tibi, police deputy traffic chief, told Channel 2 television.
Earlier, spikes and oil were scattered on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway at morning rush hour, slashing the tyres of 20 cars near Ben-Gurion International Airport in what officials described as vandalism by ultranationalists.