Thousands protest in Israel, calling for early elections

Middle east
By Editor_1
A drone view of anti-government protest in front of the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on Sunday (March 31, 2024), calling for Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu's government to resign and a general election in the wake of the deadly October 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas and the ensuing war in Gaza -Ilan Rosenberg/Reuters
By Adam Rasgon and Aaron Boxerman

JERUSALEM — Thousands of Israelis filled the streets outside the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem on Sunday (March 31) to call for early elections, in one of the most significant demonstrations against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.

Sunday’s protest in Jerusalem got underway just one day after thousands took to the streets of Tel Aviv, Israel, in a separate anti-government protest, and as Netanyahu faces mounting anger from Israelis who believe he has put his political survival ahead of the broader interests of the Israeli people. It also comes as he goes into surgery to treat a hernia Sunday night.

The protest in Jerusalem is expected to last four days, with some demonstrators planning to stay in a cluster of tents near parliament. On Sunday, several carried signs calling for Netanyahu’s “immediate removal” while others held posters calling for elections, saying “those who destroyed can’t be the ones to fix.”

Elad Dreifuss, a 25-year-old student, said protesting against the government in the midst of wartime was a difficult decision. But, he added, “if the government can’t live up to its responsibility, something has to change.”

Many Israelis have refrained from rallying against the government in the middle of Israel’s military campaign against Hamas.

“We held back for six months,” said Michal Begin, a physician from Jerusalem. “At the beginning, there was a sense that we had to be united for the sake of the war effort.”

But now “many of the reservists are back home; many soldiers have left Gaza,” she added. “Our need to mobilize for the intensive war effort has diminished. Now we can say that this government cannot continue to serve.”

Netanyahu has come under sharp criticism for refusing to take responsibility for the failures that preceded the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7 and for failing thus far to strike a deal with Hamas to bring home the remaining hostages held by militants in the Gaza Strip.

But some worried that the protests could revive conflicts inside Israel that the war had temporarily smoothed over. In the months preceding Oct. 7, Israel had experienced immense domestic strife over a plan backed by Netanyahu to limit the influence of the judiciary. Massive protests against the effort had been taking place on a weekly basis, with demonstrators accusing the prime minister of trying to undermine the balance of powers and democracy in Israel.

Eitam Harel, a 23-year-old reservist from Jerusalem, watched flag-waving demonstrators gather near Israel’s Supreme Court with mixed feelings.

“Protest is a legitimate and praiseworthy thing,” Harel said. But he added: “The protests could drag us back to the negative discourse we had before the war.”

Organizers said they were hopeful the protest could shake up the Israeli political system.

“I believe Israel is facing one of the most difficult moments in its history,” Moshe Radman, an entrepreneur who is helping organize the four-day protest, said in an interview. “We need a government that will act for the betterment of the nation, not in the interest of political and personal considerations of a prime minister.”

Despite being on trial for corruption charges, Netanyahu became prime minister again in late 2022 after spending more than a year in the opposition. His critics have said that the court cases have influenced his decision-making.

Netanyahu has consistently repelled criticisms of his administration, including its handling of the war. He has asserted that his government was seeking a “complete victory” over Hamas, even though the militant group was still believed to have thousands of fighters nearly six months into the war.

-New York Times

Editor_1
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