Thousands rally outside PM’s residence in Jerusalem: ‘Time has come for hostage deal and elections’

Thousands of protesters are rallying for a hostage deal outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem tonight, marking over 300 days since the captives were seized during Hamas’s October 7 onslaught.

“The time has come for a deal, and the time has come for elections,” says former diplomat Eran Etzion to the large crowd.

He insists that a hostage deal “has been ready” to be signed for a long time, but that Netanyahu is deliberately stalling negotiations for “political, personal and criminal reasons.”

“He [Netanyahu] is stirring up a regional war with the worst imaginable starting circumstances, when Israel is weak, isolated, and the IDF is worn out,” he warns.

Etzion calls on Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and other heads of Israel’s security establishment to pressure Netanyahu into a deal.

“Your time has come,” he urges them. “The time has come to bang on his table and say: ‘You have no authority to kill the deal and the hostages!’