The Democrats leader Yair Golan: ‘We’ll force’ Netanyahu to hold elections

The Democrats chief Yair Golan says “we’ll force” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold elections.

“Only someone who’s afraid of elections runs away from the people,” he says while speaking at an anti-government protest on Habima Square in Tel Aviv.

“We’ll force you because it’s our country,” he says to the crowd of some 500 demonstrators. “We’ll force you because it’s our home.”

The next elections are scheduled for late 2026, but Netanyahu’s critics have demanded he dissolve the government over its failure to prevent the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023.

Golan tells the crowd that Israel is in the throes of an “existential fight between Zionism and messianism” and is currently ruled by a government that is “neither Zionist nor democratic.” He assails the government’s campaigns to weaken the judiciary, formalize exemptions to mandatory military service for Haredi yeshiva students, and oust the attorney general and Shin Bet chief.

“We’re here because we’re committed to an equal draft, to ending the war, to dismantling the Hamas government and bring security to the citizens of Israel,” he says.

Golan, whose party is an alliance of two left-wing parties, makes no mention of Israeli-Palestinian peace.

During his speech, some protesters chant that Netanyahu is a “traitor.”

The rally also features speeches from former deputy attorney general Dina Zilber, actor Yossi Marshak, and prominent anti-government activist Shikma Bressler.

“The country is turning into a state of Netanyahu loyalists,” says Zilber, who frequently drew the ire of Netanyahu’s allies while in office. “They’ll get the opportunities and jobs, and leave the draft orders to us.”

“Government of horrors — your time is up,” adds Zilber. “We won’t let you write the end of Israeli democracy with our blood.”

As she speaks, the crowd chants: “It won’t end until Bibi is arrested,” using the premier’s nickname.

After the speeches, prominent anti-Netanyahu activist Moshe Radman announces that anti-government rallies will return next week to Kaplan Street, where mass weekly protests against the judicial overhaul were held in 2023 before the Gaza war.

“It took us another week,” says Radman, who made the same announcement last week. He adds that on Sunday, March 23, the protest movement will travel to Jerusalem in a massive car convoy.

The rally breaks up after Radman speaks, as the speakers blare upbeat protest songs. The protesters march to the Begin Road entrance of the IDF headquarters, where they will join anti-government hostage families at their weekly protest for a hostage deal.