Chanting “Elections now!” and “Bring back the hostages now!” Thousands of Israeli demonstrators gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, five months after the war in Gaza.
The crowd, wearing T-shirts and banners bearing the names and photos of hostages taken in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, demanded swift action to rescue the remaining captives.
The attacks in southern Israel that sparked the war killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli data.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign to destroy Hamas has killed 30,960 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Health Ministry of the Hamas-dominated region.
Israel says that about 100 hostages in Gaza are still alive and 31 are presumed dead, which is an important source of despair for the demonstrators.
“We are a broken country,” said Ola, a psychologist in her 60s who declined to give her full name.
Some protesters have called for an immediate ceasefire, but Netanyahu’s government has so far rejected that position, arguing it would mean a victory for Hamas.
“A ceasefire? Yes, we have no choice,” said Israel Alva, a former soldier who now sells medical equipment, adding that there was no “political plan” after the war.
Mediators have been pushing for a new ceasefire ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins in the coming days.
But U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday that a breakthrough “looks difficult.”
Shai Gill, a 50-year-old airline pilot who attended the Tel Aviv rally, said Netanyahu’s government, hit by a wave of massive protests before the war, “cannot continue to govern” after the Oct. 7 attack.
“They don’t have the trust of the people and we have to hold an election,” Gill said.
He accused the government of being “motivated by staying in power, not by what is good for the country. They are just clinging to their seats.”
Police later said they arrested 16 protesters for disturbing public order, blocked a highway and used water cannons to disperse crowds.
Saturday’s rally bore some similarities to the massive protests against Netanyahu’s controversial legal reforms that preceded the Gaza war and, as one protester lamented, “a century ago.”
Israel’s Supreme Court in January struck down a key component of the reform, which has largely been put on hold.
Netanyahu believes there is a need to rebalance power between judges and elected officials.
But his critics warn the multi-pronged package could pave the way for authoritarian rule and be used by Netanyahu to quash his possible corruption convictions.
Netanyahu was dealt a fresh blow this week when an investigation found the prime minister “personally responsible” for the 2021 stampede in northern Israel that killed 45 Jewish pilgrims.
Netanyahu’s Likud party responded by saying the investigation was politically motivated.
“Netanyahu has always governed in the same way, with a ‘I’m not responsible’ attitude,” Gill said.
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