Protest against Netanyahu’s government brings together tens of thousands in Jerusalem | Israel

Tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets in Jerusalem this Sunday to protest against Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and demand early elections, in one of the biggest demonstrations in Israel since the start of the war against Hamas on October 7.

In a protest that also brought together several families of Israeli hostages detained in the Gaza Strip by the Islamist group, the protesters also demanded the end of the exemption from military service granted to ultra-Orthodox Jews, demanding a fairer and more equitable sharing of what is an obligation of the majority of Israel’s citizens. Around 600 soldiers have been killed so far since the October 7 Hamas attack and the ensuing war in Gaza, the highest number of military casualties in recent years.

“This government is a complete and utter failure. It will take us to the abyss,” said protester Nurit Robinson, 74, cited by Reuters, while technology entrepreneur Moshe Radman, one of the leaders of the 2023 protests against reform of the judicial system, demanded the immediate appointment of elections for the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament.

“After October 7th, with so many dead and injured, so many hostages and missing, it seemed impossible that we would ever reach this point: 100 thousand people, united, demanding elections now. But here we are,” Radman said in statements to the newspaper Haaretzand then challenge the prime minister: “I’ll ask you [a Netanyahu] a simple question: what are you so afraid of? If you are so sure that everyone supports you, let’s vote. You would win easily, wouldn’t you? Let’s go. Elections.”

Begin Avenue, one of Jerusalem’s main thoroughfares, was blocked by hundreds of protesters, with police responding with water cannons to try to disperse the crowd.

At the same time that protesters were gathering in front of Parliament, Benjamin Netanyahu said, in a press conference he called before being hospitalized to undergo emergency surgery for a hernia, that holding elections at the height of the war, when, according to him, Israel was so close to victory, it would paralyze the country for months.

“Hamas would be the first to celebrate the elections,” said Netanyahu. “It would paralyze negotiations to free our hostages and end the war before the objectives are achieved,” he added, saying that he understands the “desperation” of the families who continue to have no news about the hostages held by Hamas since October 7th.

“As Prime Minister of Israel, I am doing and will do everything I can to bring our loved ones home. Whenever we have accurate information and operational conditions allow, I will approve the rescue operations”, he argued, before returning to defending the strategy of “military pressure and negotiations”.

The hostages’ families appear, however, to have lost patience with Netanyahu and his promises. One of the families’ spokespersons, Eli Albag, whose daughter Liri is detained by Hamas, announced on Saturday night that he would stop participating in the vigils in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square to join the street demonstrations against the prime minister.

“This is the last Shabbat we stay here. From now on, we will be on the streets. It’s time to turn off the lights”, Albag declared to Times of Israel.

Albag’s words were echoed by the spokesman for the Forum for the Relatives of the Hostages and Disappeared, Haim Rubinstein. “The marches are over. The protests have just started,” he wrote on the social network X.

This Sunday’s demonstration was attended by the leader of the Israeli opposition and former Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who, in front of the Knesset, criticized the fact that the Government was, at this time, on vacation. “The hostages cannot take a break, but can the government?”, launched Lapid who, before the demonstration, had stated, on social media, that “the only important thing for Netanyahu is to remain in power”.

“It destroys relations with the Americans, destroys the security system, abandons hostages and helps those who want to escape military service. Everything for politics, nothing for the country”, he added, calling for early elections to be scheduled immediately.

This Sunday’s protest, which is expected to last until Wednesday, also had the approval of the Israel Business Forum, which represents the majority of private sector workers in 200 of the country’s largest companies.

“This is an emergency for Israel and those who are interested must be allowed to participate in the democratic act,” the organization declared in a statement released by Times of Israel. Furthermore, dozens of technology companies not associated with the forum also authorized their employees to participate in the protests without fear of reprisals.