BY Matthew Kalman
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
JERUSALEM - The activists protesting the Israeli security fence in the West Bank were prepared for rubber bullets and tear gas - but not The Skunk.
The mist, fired from a water cannon, was yellow as it washed over the group and left an unshakable stench of sewage in mouths, hair and clothes. It gave the protesters a literal taste of a new riot-control weapon developed by the Israeli police.
"A terrible stench - the smell of a rotting, dead animal," said Dr David Nir, an Israeli peace campaigner. "Like jumping headfirst into a sewer."
Palestinian protester Ahad Huja said the smell even got into the food his wife cooked; people avoided him for a week.
The foul-smelling fluid can be sprayed from truck mounted cannons or from backpacks carried by cops.
David Ben Harosh, head of technological development for the Israeli police - which plans to market The Skunk to other forces worldwide - says the recipe is based entirely on natural organic ingredients.
"It's the start of a change in tactics in dealing with crowd control and dispersing violent demonstrations," Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.
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