Father of captive IDF soldier urges Netanyahu to resign, veering from apolitical stance of Jerusalem rally

Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod Cohen is held captive by Hamas in Gaza, addresses a Hostages and Missing Families Forum demonstration outside the Knesset in Jerusalem, April 7, 2024. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)
Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod Cohen is held captive by Hamas in Gaza, addresses a Hostages and Missing Families Forum demonstration outside the Knesset in Jerusalem, April 7, 2024. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)

Yehuda Cohen, the father of kidnapped soldier Nimrod Cohen, is lambasting the current government at a massive rally marking half a year since October 7, calling the ruling coalition “criminal” and calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign.

His speech appears to be energizing the crowd, swaths of which are booing Netanyahu and demanding the toppling of his government.

Before introducing the rally’s next speakers, actor Lior Ashkenazi, the rally’s emcee for the night, comments indirectly on Cohen’s speech.

“Anger and pain take on many opinions… the hostages have no party, they don’t do polls,” he says in an attempt to reiterate the official, apolitical stance of the Hostage Families Forum.

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