Tens of thousands rally in Tel Aviv to demand hostage deal, denounce government
Protests urging early elections and Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal estimated to be largest since Oct. 7; arrests reported, 14 officers said hurt
Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters demonstrated in Tel Aviv on Saturday, calling on the government to advance a deal to release hostages held by terrorists in Gaza since October 7, and for the dismissal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and early elections.
Attendees of Saturday’s protest said that it was the largest since Hamas’s October 7 massacre, with protest organizers estimating that some 120,000 demonstrators attended the Tel Aviv rally.
Similar demonstrations were held at numerous locations around the country.
In Democracy Square after the end of the official rally, protesters continued chanting for the release of hostages. Some activists lit a bonfire on the square, and videos posted to social media showed skirmishes between police and protesters.
According to the Haaretz daily, two protesters were arrested, and police used a sound cannon to disperse protesters.
The Ynet news site reported that police brought a water cannon to the event but that it was not used.
Ynet also reported that 14 police officers including Chief Superintendent Avi Ofer, the deputy commander of the Tel Aviv Police Department, were injured during clashes with protesters. Ofer sustained injuries that required medical treatment, according to the report.
Protests at the intersection of Begin and Kaplan Street, dubbed Democracy Square, have been held every Saturday night since the anti-judicial overhaul movement began in January of last year, except for a few-months-long hiatus following the Hamas terror onslaught on October 7.
One video posted to social media showed Labor MK Gilad Kariv, a frequent attendee of the anti-government protests, in a heated argument with Chief Superintendent Ofer.
“You’re always causing trouble,” Ofer can be heard shouting as he films the Labor MK on his cellphone, who yells back at him over the crowd.
סגן מפקד תחנת לב תל אביב אבי עופר שמפקד על פינוי הצומת מצלם את ח״כ גלעד קריב ואומר לו כי הוא ״מפריע כל הזמן״ pic.twitter.com/TisehaH3hK
— Bar Peleg (@bar_peleg) June 1, 2024
The first speaker at the demonstration was Shaul Meridor, the former head of the Finance Ministry’s budget department, who entered the public eye in 2020 for resigning in protest of then-finance minister Israel Katz’s budgetary conduct.
“A step away from a victory that will never come, we’re surrounded by enemies, the whole world’s against us,” Meridor said, referring to Netanyahu’s repeated claims throughout the war that Israel is close to achieving its objectives.
“Last night, we received a reminder of what a real leader looks like, who cares for Israel’s future and not his own. Thank you President Biden,” he added, referring to the US president’s speech on Friday in which he outlined Israel’s proposal for a deal leading to a ceasefire and release of hostages, urged the Israeli government to stand behind it and called on Hamas to accept it.
Gal Pichovich, an activist and resident of the so-called Gaza Envelope region, also referred to Biden’s address, saying, “Last night, in an exceptional speech, the US president spoke to us, the Israelis. The US president told us to wake up. The leader of the free world said our government must stop running out the clock.
“Will we let Netanyahu, [National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir], and [National Security Council head Tzachi Hanegbi] keep wasting time and abandon the hostages in Gaza, or are we going to let them know that it’s over and that they’re bringing them all home now?” she continued.
Protest leader and entrepreneur Moshe Redman said the anti-government movement would escalate its tactics beginning June 16 to hurry the removal of the government. “All the protest organizations, alongside additional civil organizations and businesses, are going to begin a continuous, daily protest in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Caesarea and additional places,” he said. “The protest will include mass daily demonstrations, disruptions to the government’s activities, strikes and more.”
After the official portion of the demonstration ended, protesters joined families of some hostages at a demonstration nearby on Begin Street.
אלימות משטרתי בצומת קפלן
קרדיט רועי בושי Roi Boshi pic.twitter.com/RdMrWXx49i
— אלימות ישראל (@Alimut_Israel) June 1, 2024
“This isn’t just a struggle for the hostages, it is a struggle for the country, a struggle for renewing the contract between the government and the citizens, a struggle for the north, the south, security, the economy, the peace that there could be here the day that Netanyahu and the extremists will leave our lives,” said Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan Zangauker, 24, is held captive in Gaza.
The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 252 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
It is believed that 121 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released prior to that. Three hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 19 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military.
The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 37 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza.
One more person is listed as missing since October 7, and their fate is still unknown.
Hamas is also holding the bodies of fallen IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin since 2014, as well as two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who are both thought to be alive after entering the Strip of their own accord in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
