Israel’s leadership is using war to block protests against it, says speaker at anti-gov’t rally

A protest leader speaking at the weekly anti-government demonstration in Tel Aviv says Israel’s leadership “is making cynical use of the word ‘war,’ using it to say that ‘now is not the time’ to protest.”

The speaker is Anat Arbel, a criminologist and among the leaders of “The Pink Front,” one of the organizing groups of the weekly demonstration on Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street.

Arbel, who is also an IDF reservist holding the rank of major, adds that while she fights in Gaza, “this government is fighting us.”

Res. Maj. Gen. Nimrod Shafir speaks after Arbel. “The longest war in the history of Israel is also the greatest failure among wars in the history of Israel,” he says.

“Those who failed are our leaders, and at their head ‘Mr. Security,” he adds, referencing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The last speaker is Ron Sharf, a member of the reservists’ protest group Brothers and Sisters in Arms, who speaks against the government’s efforts to exempt ultra-Orthodox men from mandatory military conscription.