Hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens are protesting against the government

On Sunday morning we woke up in Israel to the shocking news that 6 Israeli citizens had been found dead in the tunnels of Hamas in Gaza. This led to massive protests of between 700-800,000 all over Israel against the most dangerous and irresponsible government in the history of Israel, led by PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

On Sunday afternoon, I attended the large demonstration in Jerusalem, opposite the Prime Minister’s Office, where there was a meeting being held to talk about just about anything other than the deal needed to bring the hostages home. I could feel the anger and frustration among the thousands of people who attended this demonstration, as well as the feelings, which I share, of shame concerning this government.

We are in the middle of the 11th month of the Israel-Hamas war, with no end in sight. During this time, the government of Israel is destroying the country in so many ways, that people are beginning to wonder if we will ever recover from this.

At least one former general in the IDF thinks that another year like this one for Israeli society will lead to disaster . In an article in Haaretz last week, Yitzhak Brik said:

I assume that Defense Minister Gallant already understands that the war has lost its purpose. Israel is sinking deeper into the Gazan mud, losing more and more soldiers as they get killed or wounded, without any chance of achieving the war’s main goal: bringing down Hamas. The country really is galloping towards the edge of an abyss. If the war of attrition against Hamas and Hezbollah continues, Israel will collapse within no more than a year.

–Maj. Gen. Yitzhak Brik served in the Armored Corps as a brigade, division and troops commander, and was the commander of the IDF military colleges. For 10 years he was the Israel Defense Forces ombudsman.

The list of the government’s failures grows day by day. Some of them are truly astounding and unforgivable:

*The PM has twisted and turned, torpedoed and delayed potential deals for months and HE HAS NOT BROUGHT THE HOSTAGES HOME!  (except for a few hostages which the IDF rescued, some dead, some alive.) He absolutely refuses to make the deal that is necessary to do this (mostly for political reasons, i.e., his coalition might fall apart, Heaven Forbid or God-willing, depending on your point of view). By refusing to do what is necessary and morally correct over and over again, he is torturing the families of the hostages (and most of Israeli society) and leaving most of the them to rot and die in the hell of the tunnels in Gaza. This is his first and foremost unforgivable sin.  To top it off, he gave the most detached and absurd press conference last night, which made it crystal clear that he is not heading for a deal and saving the lives of the hostages, but just more war.

*He has abandoned the citizens of Israel in the north! More than 60,000 citizens were evacuated from their homes in early October, after the massacres and kidnappings of October 7th, and thousands more self-evacuated! Since then, a horrible daily war of attrition has raged, with lots of destruction of property and some loss of life of Israeli citizens and soldiers. But there is no horizon for the citizens of Israel in the north to return to their homes in the near future! This is due to the fact that as long as the war rages in the south, it continues in the north too, as Hezbollah has promised. The tragedy is that the government knows that the only way to end the war in the north is to end the one in the south, but this extremist far-right coalition has no plan to do this! On the contrary, they want this war to continue indefinitely, which is actually what is happening, and some of the most extreme members of the government even want to permanently reoccupy Gaza (and parts of Southern Lebanon!).

*One of the most dangerous acts of the Prime Minister in forming this government at the end of 2022 was to bring into the coalition two far-right political parties that had never been in government before . These two parties—so-called “Religious Zionism” and “Jewish Power”—are led by two fanatic settlers—Betzalel Smotrich (the Minister of Finance) and Itamar Ben Gvir (the Minister of National Security)—who have tainted the current government with an extremist image in Israel and around the world. Their annexationist and anti-Palestinian policies are a clear and present danger to Israel’s security and international legitimacy (the USA and countries in Europe are already beginning to level sanctions against them), and their incitement to violence, especially in the West Bank and Gaza, is fueling more violence and hatred all the time. In fact, due to the pressure of these 2 extreme settler political parties, the West Bank has turned into a war zone, a third front, to make life even more complicated for the IDF.

In addition to this, these irresponsible leaders make outrageous statements all the time and engage in inflammatory actions, such as going up to Temple Mount/Harem el Sharif in order to get most of the Muslims in the world angry at Israel, as if we don’t have enough problems already. Moreover, they are continually inspiring and supporting “settler violence” against innocent Palestinians, sometimes just for the hell of it and other times to encourage them to flee from their towns and villages. It is all part of their policy of “creeping annexation“. If all of this was not enough , they have consistently opposed any deal for a ceasefire which would have brought home all the remaining hostages dead and alive), a policy which has been adopted by the PM, to his eternal shame.

*This endless war —which Bibi and his crazy colleagues have no plans to ever finish—is sowing awesome anxiety and continual chaos within many sectors of Israeli society: the economy is in tatters with many parts of it suffering very badly, including tourism, high tech start-ups, the health system, and higher education. Thousands of soldiers have been injured and are in hospitals and rehabilitation centers; hundreds have been killed and are dying almost every day in combat. Families are living with intense anxiety, as one or more of the members of their families are serving in Gaza or in the north for months at a time. In short , thousands of Israeli citizens are in a situation of trauma or post-trauma, with no end in sight.

Moreover, most of the citizens of Israel now feel that the current government of Israel doesn’t give a damn about them. This is the government that abandoned the citizens of Israel, Jewish and Arab, on October 7th, 2023 and continues to do so, with arrogance and extreme obtuseness, every day for almost eleven months by now.  Many people in the media in Israel refer to this government as the government of destruction and irresponsibility, which represents the feelings of revulsion of most of the citizens of Israel by now at the current leadership.

Yesterday,  there was a general strike in Israel. And demonstrations against this evil government continued all over the country. More will likely continue and grow in the days and weeks ahead.

Could this be a turning point? In her moving eulogy for her son Hersh, the indominable and inspiring mother, Rachel Goldberg-Polin said yesterday:

I also pray that your death will be a turning point in this horrible situation in which we are all entangled.

I hope that she is correct.  It is imperative that the people of Israel rise up now,  and force this insane government, and especially its “leader” to resign.

This war needs to end. The end of the war in the south means the end of the war in the north, and then people can return to their homes. There has been more than enough killing and destruction of property. A deal for release of the hostages in Gaza in exchange for the release of Palestinians in Israeli prisons must be reached. And, new elections need to be brought about, as soon as possible.