Kiryat Shmona residents protest government’s ‘abandonment’ of northern border city

By Diana Bletter

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16 December 2025, 10:54 am

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Reporter at The Times of Israel

Sima Alok, resident of Kiryat Shmona, protests the 'abandonment' of the northern border city, December 16, 2025. (Diana Bletter/Times of Israel)

Some 1,000 people gather at the entrance of Kiryat Shmona to protest what they say is “the abandonment” of the northern border city.

The protest organizer, Shiran Ohayon, tells the crowd, ”We are tired of promises. We want solutions.”

She says that businesses should not pay taxes if “they receive no services.”

The protesters say that 40 percent of the city’s residents have not returned since they were evacuated when Hezbollah began firing rockets on October 8, 2023.

A Kiryat Shmona resident, Sima Alok, tells The Times of Israel that those who have returned, at the government’s urging, “don’t have any work, education, teachers or social workers.”