Day 206 Of The War: We Were Taken Hostage

People in Israel find it hard to believe that not all Gazans support Hamas because otherwise, how come they have not revolted against their government? Now the same question is rightly directed toward Israel, as it is clear that most Israelis detest our current government. How is it possible that it is still in power? The answer lies in our election system that allows the minority in the government to threaten the majority. If Likud doesn’t comply with the demands of the small parties, the latter will vote for an election, and this government will no longer be in power. That’s how we see extremists like Ben Gvir and Smotrich leading the country towards destruction, and Netanyahu is too afraid to stop them

Last Saturday in Kaplan the mood was especially angry. This time, the woman who led the program on stage was Lee Hoffman Agiv, Field Operation Manager of Bonot Alternativa, the activist women’s organization that was founded as a result of the Judicial overhaul last year. She said that the highest number of women in the history of Israel were victims of violence under this current government. Who would have believed that after more than 200 days, we would still find ourselves with such a failing government ? It has zero achievements, a government full of right-wing officials full of excuses.

Following Lee’s passionate speech, we heard from Neri Yarkoni, a retired colonel, a combat pilot for over 30 years, and a lawyer. He told the crowd that on October 7th, Netanyahu had already chosen to work on his political survival, launching a revenge war full of empty slogans. As long as this man is the head, no positive development or rehabilitation can take place, and of course, the first step should be to return the hostages. Nevertheless, Yarkoni had a somewhat hopeful message for Kaplan: we will succeed because we have no other choice and no other country.

Professor Yaniv Rosnai from Reichman University, who was and still is very active in leading the fight against the Judicial Overhaul, spoke next and told us that the government has not given up on its absurd idea of the judicial overhaul, and it is still going on under the cover of the war. He reminded us that 85% of the public doesn’t trust the government, and it is up to us to bring about the day after.

Lastly, we heard from Einav Zangauker, Matan’s mother, a tragic heroine of this fight to bring back the hostages. She pleaded with us again to go to the streets and fight for Matan and the other hostages.

It was a very depressing evening. Still, the only thing to do is to keep protesting and fighting as we were reminded once again, unfortunately, Netanyahu will not leave his office quietly.