Hostage rallies set to draw thousands as families lament ‘incomplete independence’
Anti-government protest groups plan march in Ra’anana after right-wing rioters assaulted attendees at Reform synagogue viewing of Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day ceremony
Thousands of Israelis are expected to attend hostage families’ rallies in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, as anti-government groups are set to protest in Ra’anana after right-wing activists in the city violently attacked a viewing of the Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day ceremony this week.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said its weekly Hostages Square rally will include speeches by Omer Shem Tov, who was released from Hamas captivity in February as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal; Maya and Itay Regev, who were released in the first, weeklong truce-hostage deal in November 2023; Vicky Cohen, mother of captive soldier Nimrod Cohen; Yeela David, sister of captive Evyatar David; Omri Shtivi, brother of slain captive Idan Shtivi; and Noam Rudaeff, daughter of slain captive Lior Rudaeff.
In a statement released Thursday, as Israel marked its Independence Day, the forum called on the public to come to Hostages Square, adding that without the captives, “there will be no complete independence for the country, and no national rehabilitation.”
A separate, anti-government hostage families’ rally is set to be held a block away from Hostages Square, in front of the Begin Road entrance to the IDF headquarters. Protesters at Begin Road typically accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of sacrificing the hostages to keep his government intact.
Netanyahu, who has refused to end the Gaza war as part of a hostage deal, enraged hostage families this week after he indicated on Thursday that the release of their loved ones was a secondary aim of the Gaza War, and after his wife said Monday that fewer than 24 hostages were still alive.
Israel has maintained that 24 captives are still alive in Gaza since the most recent Gaza ceasefire ended in March. All are young men abducted on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza. Terror groups in Gaza are also holding the remains of at least 35 hostages, including a soldier killed fighting in the 2014 Gaza war.
The Begin Road hostage families’ rally will be bolstered by protesters from an earlier anti-government demonstration on Tel Aviv’s Habima Square, where protesters typically slam Netanyahu over his corruption trial, his refusal to form a state commission of inquiry into the failures of October 7, his top aides’ alleged criminal ties to Hamas-backer Qatar, and his government’s bid to weaken the judiciary.
That Habima demonstration is expected to be smaller than in previous weeks as opposition figures and leading anti-Netanyahu activists plan a march down the main road in the central town of Ra’anana to the Ra’anana Junction.
The march in the town, which has a large Anglophone community, comes after right-wing rioters assaulted people who had gathered at a local Reform synagogue Tuesday night, on the eve of Memorial Day, to watch the annual Israeli-Palestinian ceremony, which features relatives of people killed on both sides of the conflict.
????Police evacuating Raanana residents from the Samueli synagogue where a right-wing mob attacked the audience watching a screening of the Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day ceremony tonight. @tomerappelbaum pic.twitter.com/lszQKSPYud
— Noga Tarnopolsky נגה טרנופולסקי نوغا ترنوبولسكي (@NTarnopolsky) April 29, 2025
Following the assault, the head of the local branch of Netanyahu’s Likud party, who is a city council member, threatened “leftists” that the incident was “just the opening shot.” The premier has not commented on the incident.
The anti-government demonstration in Ra’anana Saturday night is set to feature speeches from Labor lawmakers Naama Lazimi and Gilad Kariv, who is a Reform rabbi.
The Times of Israel Community.