Masses rally for hostage deal in Jerusalem amid simmering anti-government mood
Demonstration drawing some 50,000 outside Knesset marked by criticism of Netanyahu from speakers and crowd, despite attempts by Hostages and Missing Families Forum to stay neutral
Tens of thousands of people rallied in Jerusalem Sunday to demand the immediate return of 133 hostages held in Gaza as Israel marked six months since the Hamas terror group’s onslaught in southern Israel.
Alongside the estimated 50,000 participants who demonstrated outside the Knesset, according to organizers from a group representing the families of hostages, thousands more people gathered for rallies with relatives of captives in cities across the West, including New York, Berlin, London and Washington DC.
The events took place as Israel and Hamas sent officials to Cairo to take a fresh crack at negotiating an elusive deal to pause fighting and free the hostages in exchange for Palestinian security prisoners.
Freed hostages, relatives of those still in Hamas captivity and parents of slain soldiers spoke at the Sunday night demonstration in Jerusalem. Crowds thronging Jerusalem’s Kaplan Street carried signs with photos of those kidnapped by Hamas and wearing the iconic yellow ribbon symbolic of the hostages’ plight, in front of a Knesset lit up in yellow in their honor.
Many in the crowd demanded an immediate hostage deal, chanting: “There is nothing more important, every hostage has to return.”
The rally ended peacefully, with participants who arrived on buses from around the country arranged by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum rushing to catch rides home, in contrast to recent demonstrations in the city and elsewhere that have seen chaotic skirmishes between activists and police.
Nonetheless, the rally was still charged with deep misgivings over the country’s leadership. During the demonstration, large sections of the crowd repeatedly broke into chants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, eschewing the organizers’ staunch refusal to take a partisan stance and reflecting growing frustration among many over the government’s inability to negotiate freedom for the captives — 129 of those kidnapped on October 7 and four others held by Hamas for nearly a decade. The number includes the remains of over two dozen captives Israel believes to be dead.
During a speech by Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion, protesters drowned him out with cries of “Deal now!”
“Half a year is half a year too much, for each and every one of the hostages,” said Lion.
The anti-government tone intensified as Yehuda Cohen, father of the captive soldier Nimrod Cohen, tore into the government, calling on Netanyahu to resign. Swaths of the crowd jeered with each mention of Netanyahu’s name.
“We are facing a criminal government that isn’t doing anything for the return of our loved ones,” he said, to cries of “shame” from the crowd.
Cohen, an outspoken critic of Netanyahu whose son was abducted by terrorists from Kibbutz Nahal Oz on October 7, told the crowd that he asked the premier during a meeting last week what price Israel was willing to pay to return his son, but received no answer.
Cohen is one of several families of hostages who recently made a public break with the Forum’s commitment to remain apolitical, instead throwing in with anti-government protests that have picked up pace in recent weeks. Protesters in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv have demanded early elections, accusing the country’s leadership of failing to effectively prosecute the war, free the hostages, deal with the recovery of the south and hostilities on the northern border, and keep international support intact.
Despite the split, the Forum, which also represents families who back the government, has sought to avoid being seen as politically partisan. Following Cohen’s speech, actor Lior Ashkenazi, the rally’s emcee, reminded the crowd of the Forum’s commitment to neutrality.
“Anger and pain take on many opinions,” he said carefully, reiterating a slogan he used at the rally’s outset: “The hostages have no party, they don’t do polls.”
Hagit Chen, whose son Itay Chen, a dual US-Israeli citizen, is one of the 34 victims whose remains are being held by terror groups in the Strip, accused the government of abandonment.
“How is it possible that after six months, they [the government] haven’t brought you back?” she said through tears, calling for a deal. A mention of Netanyahu’s name was met with another round of boos from the crowd.
On the other side of the political divide, actor and rabbi Hagay Lober, whose son Yehonatan Lober was killed in combat in the Gaza Strip in December, voiced the position held by some hostage relatives that rather than win freedom by retreating from the military campaign in Gaza, Israel should press its military offensive until the hostages are rescued or freed, a stance largely adopted by the government.
“I have three sons [still alive],” he said. “If there is a small chance that any of them could enter Gaza again and save our beloved brothers… to save a body and bring it to be buried in Israel, I am telling you that I would send them all.”
Ahead of the speeches, a group of female family members of Hamas-held hostages stood silently onstage for a few minutes, holding photos of their loved ones. Covering the women’s mouths were strips of tape with the number 184 — the number of days that have passed since October 7, when Hamas-led terrorists rampaged through southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping 253.
The bereaved relatives then ripped the tape from their mouths and let out a long, bloodcurdling scream, to which the audience screamed back.
Itay Regev, who was among 105 hostages freed as part of a short-term truce deal in late November, recalled the psychological torture he and other hostages were put through in Gaza.
Hamas “tries to convince the hostages that the government has given up on them,” he said. “On behalf of our brothers and sisters, I want to ask our leaders, is this true? Have you given up on them?”
Looming over the demonstration was the IDF’s recent announcement that it had recovered the body of hostage Elad Katzir, who was killed in mid-January by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group, a reminder of the constant danger faced by those still in captivity.
Ofri Bibas-Levy, whose brother Yarden Bibas was kidnapped into Gaza along with his wife and two young sons, including an infant, expressed worries that her loved ones may not return home alive.
“It’s been half a year and every moment could be the last, and maybe it already was,” she said. “[Katzir] was kidnapped alive and murdered in captivity. He was kidnapped alive like Ariel, Kfir, Shiri and Yarden and many others, and suffered a fate that I can only pray does not befall others there.”
The demonstration and supporting rallies worldwide came as Israel and Hamas both dispatched delegations to Cairo for a fresh round of talks, with Israeli officials quoted in Hebrew language media reports expressing cautious optimism about securing a truce and hostage release deal.
The Haaretz news outlet reported that the US would present a new draft proposal to the parties.
CIA Director Bill Burns is attending the talks, along with Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egypt’s General Intelligence Directorate Abbas Kamel. Among the Israeli officials expected to attend are Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar.
Early Monday, Egypt’s Al Qahera news, citing a senior Egyptian source, said Hamas and Qatar delegations had left Cairo hours after arriving with a promise to return in two days to reach final terms.
Times of Israel staff and Reuters contributed to this report.
