‘Netanyahu is a con man and liability to US-Israel alliance’: Protesters rally in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv

Several hundred protesters attend anti-government rallies in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, castigating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “failure,” and warning that he is a “liability to the US-Israel alliance.”

Protesters also call for the establishment of a State Commission of Inquiry into the failures that allowed the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks, which Netanyahu has refused to do, favoring a politically appointed probe.

Outside the Jerusalem home of billionaire Simon Falic, a friend of Netanyahu and where the prime minister often stays, dozens of protesters gathered and chanted slogans against the premier.

The Pro-Democracy Protest Movement, which organized the rallies, says in a statement that “Netanyahu is a con man and a total failure. He is despised at home and abroad. He is a liability to the US-Israel alliance, the Israeli people and the Jewish diaspora.”

“You are his very last meaningful sponsor,” the group says in the statement, ostensibly directed at Falic. “Continued support for him and his family is anti-Israeli and will be judged by history as such. Make no mistake: No amount of good patriotic intentions and philanthropic activity will mask the harsh truth.”

Marching to the nearby residence of US Ambassador Mike Huckabee, the protesters say they call on him and the Trump administration not to “back a despised con man who jeopardizes the deep friendship of our two peoples.”

“The American people and the Israeli people are strongly united by shared values and common interests,” the protest group adds.

In Tel Aviv, hundreds of people gathered at Habima Square for the weekly rally calling for a State Commission of Inquiry into October 7, with some protesters seen holding signs against settler violence in the West Bank, the war in Gaza, and the government’s efforts to weaken Israel’s judiciary.