Day 177 of The War: Finally A Breakthrough In Kaplan?

Last night, I was quite tired and distressed and didn’t feel like going to Kaplan yet again. Sometimes, when this happens, it helps to arrange ahead of time to meet a friend there. But unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and I had to go on my own. When I got to Kaplan, on time, I realized that I had forgotten my phone at the parking garage. Since I like to take lots of pictures and videos at the demonstration and post them on Facebook to motivate all my Israeli friends, and to remind my friends abroad that the Israeli public actively objects to the government, I knew that I had to go back. I am glad I did. Last night wasn’t just another Kaplan demonstration; in my opinion, it was a milestone. It was the most important demonstration since the time of the Judicial Overhaul and the first time that the Hostages and Missing Families Forum joined forces with Kaplan to demand the removal of Netanyahu and call for an election. Last week, after we heard the speeches on the central stage, the demonstrators in Kaplan joined the rally of the families. But last night, two parents were on the stage in Kaplan. Einav Zangauker, the mother of Matan (24), who was abducted by Hamas from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7th and taken to Gaza, told the crowd that although she voted for Netanyahu, she now knows that he is at fault. He is a liability and should return the mandate to the people. Yehuda Cohen, the father of Nimrod, a soldier who is a hostage in Gaza, said that in the meeting with the prime minister on Thursday, the first meeting of the parents of the soldiers with Netanyahu since October 7th, he asked him what he would do to bring back his son. Netanyahu told him about his own courage in the army, about the courage of his brother Yoni, and about the books he wrote, which Yehuda called the Hebrew equivalent of “regular bullshit”. Netanyahu said nothing about bringing back Nimrod and the other hostages. Later we marched to the Families’ rally.

The families of the hostages go through hell; their life is unbearable. I see it every time I volunteer at the headquarters. We cannot imagine their plight, although we do everything we can to make their life a little easier in a small way. But the fact that the prime minister managed to be cruel towards the families and torment them while his responsibility was to protect their loved ones is beyond words.