Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter
Thousands march through Tel Aviv to call for government action on climate change, on October 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
A person is covered in a blanket with a sign reading "dead of heat" as a prop during a march demand the world leaders to take action in reversing climate change and stop the use of fossil fuels in Tel Aviv, October 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Thousands march through Tel Aviv to call for government action on climate change, October 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
A man holds a display depicting dead penguins during a march demanding the world leaders to take action in reversing climate change and stop the use of fossil fuels in Tel Aviv, October 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Thousands march through Tel Aviv to call for government action on climate change, October 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Thousands of people marched from Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square into nearby streets and back on Friday under the slogan, “Time has run out for the leaders, there’s no place for declarations, only immediate action,” in what organizers estimated was the biggest climate demonstration in Israel to date.
Green Course, a student organization, which coordinated the event with a slew of other environmental bodies, put the number of demonstrators at 12,000.
Green Course Director Elad Hofman said, “It’s exciting to see the awakening of the public. Worried citizens, alongside environmental activists, are making this year’s march the biggest and most powerful that ever took place in Israel.”
“The public is starting to internalize that the climate crisis is the biggest security threat for us and for the whole world.”
“We are demonstrating but are actually fighting for our existence and that of our children,” said Hofman. “What comes first — money for tycoons (in the fossil fuel industry) or dramatic steps to save lives?”
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The protest took place two days before a government delegation flies to Scotland for key United Nations climate talks.
Thousands march through Tel Aviv to call for government action on climate change, October 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
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