Thousands of Israelis took to the streets of Jerusalem for the second consecutive night in a mass protest demanding the ouster of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and boosted efforts to free the hostages held in Gaza.
The protesters blocked the main city highway, rallied in front of the Knesset, lit fires while waving Israeli flags, chanting “Netanyahu must go” while jostling with the police. The police were forced to fire water cannon to quell the protests.
Reports by the New York Post and the AFP said it was the biggest protest in Jerusalem since the war in Gaza broke out in October.
Those opposed to Netanyahu’s right-wing government and family members of hostages have found a common cause. The kin of those held in Gaza vowed to take to the streets every night this week in a bid to “bring them home”.
“People are raging, they are tired, they want elections. They blame Bibi (Netanyahu) and the government, which says it is not responsible for anything,” protester Dana Rabfogel Shor, who demonstrated on both nights, was quoted as saying by news agency AFP.
Dana is a distant cousin of Itay Svirsky, who was killed in the Hamas attack.
Protests also rocked Tel Aviv, which is Israel’s largest city, as protesters blocked the city main motorway for nearly two hours.
Protesters say they are angry at Netanyahu over the Hamas’s October 7 attack and his handling of the country which was reaching a boiling point.
Many protesters carried placards of Netanyahu’s face covered in blood, accusing him of failing to protect the country from Hamas.
“UR the boss, UR to blame,” read messages written on signs held by the protesters. Others said “Elections now!”
Even before the war, Netanyahu — who on Sunday had a successful hernia surgery — faced months of street protests over controversial judicial reform.
Netayahu on Sunday accused the world of ‘ganging up’ on Israel and said those who are criticising Israel are forgetting the events of October 7. He said the massacre of October 7 is being “quickly forgotten”, according to a report by the Times of Israel.
“There are people here and abroad who say maybe there’s something to this [criticism],” Netanyahu said of the backlashhe and his government has been facing. “Maybe we’re really not OK (responding),” he said.
“There is no army in the world that has done and does what the IDF has done to minimize the number of casualties and achieve achievements no other army has managed,” he further added.
Hamas militants seized about 250 hostages on October 7, of whom Israel believes 130 remain in Gaza, including 33 who are presumed dead.
Israel has been traumatised by the unprecedented Hamas attack that resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 32,782 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
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