Thousands of anti-government protesters filled a central Tel Aviv boulevard on Saturday, the same street where protests rocked the nation before the start of the Israel-Hamas war, in the biggest display of anger against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in months.
In the immediate aftermath of the October 7 Hamas attacks, which killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials, the nation was in shock and anti-government protests were put on hold. Protesters said at the time that they felt the need to unite as a nation, and many protesters were drafted into the military reserves or volunteered to help the war effort.
But as the war has passed the four-month mark, protests against the government are intensifying. On Saturday, calls for snap elections were heard above a deafening din. A red flare was lit in the middle of a drum circle that beat marching tunes. Flag-wielding protesters looked down on a half-dozen police officers on horseback.
“The people must rise up and the government must go,” said Yuval Lerner, 57, referring to Mr Netanyahu’s right-wing governing coalition. He said that even before the war, he had lost confidence that the government had the nation’s best interests at heart.
Large anti-government protests over plans to weaken the nation’s judicial system were once a routine occurrence in Israel before the outbreak of war. Tens of thousands of protesters then gathered on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv, the same street as Saturday night’s demonstration.
Karen Saar, 50, who wore a sweatshirt emblazoned with the words “deposit now,” said the return to Kaplan Street was symbolic. “It’s the Kaplan protests,” he said, repeating the phrase used locally. “We have returned the protest movement to where it was before the tragedy and the war.”
The protests against Mr Netanyahu and the government are separate from the increasingly divisive public debate over the course of action in Gaza over the hostages taken by Hamas and other groups on October 7. More than 130 hostages remain in the enclave, including at least 30 believed to be dead, according to Israeli security services. Demonstrations demanding the government prioritize their release have also been held regularly.
On Saturday, an anti-government protester said he felt the time was right to return to the streets. Shahar Danziger, 45, who carried a flag for Brothers in Arms, a grassroots organization made up of Israeli military veterans and reservists who have been deployed to help those affected by the war, said until recently it had been difficult to return to the protests when some of his colleagues were serving as reservists.
At first “we were able to help during the war,” he said. “But now it’s time to show.”
