Israelis call for Netanyahu’s resignation in biggest protest since war

Tens of thousands of demonstrators demonstrated, this Sunday (31), in front of the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, in Jerusalem, against the far-right coalition that leads the country in the war against Palestine.

They were the biggest protests since October 7th, the day Hama launched Operation Storm Al-Aqsa. Protests were also recorded in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Caesarea, Raanana and Herzliya.

Protesters demand:

• the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the dissolution of his far-right government;
• new elections and the formation of a new government;
• and that the country’s leaders agree to an agreement to release the hostages

The protests were led by a coalition of anti-Netanyahu government movements. Among them, the Kaplan Force and the Brothers and Sisters in Arms, which have been acting since January 2023 in protest against the broad judicial reform carried out by the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his then recently elected coalition of extreme political parties. right-wing and ultra-religious.

Tel Aviv has already been the scene of weekly demonstrations calling on the government to reach a ceasefire agreement to release hostages held in Gaza since October.

In Jerusalem, the crowd stretched for blocks around the Knesset. Protesters called on the government to cancel the next parliamentary recess and hold new elections, almost two years ahead of schedule.

100 thousand protestors in Jerusalem.
Elections now, all of them now.

Credit: Amir Goldstein pic.twitter.com/0GR4xNsDnm

— yayafink (@yayafink) March 31, 2024

The movement plans four days of rallies and activities in Jerusalem this week, including the participation of former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who organized and implemented the Israeli army’s unilateral withdrawal from southern Lebanon in March 2000.

Protesters want Israel to exchange the hostages for Palestinian prisoners. The objective, according to the Forum on Hostages and Missing Families, is for the Knesset to put pressure on the government and demand Netanyahu’s removal.

Addressing protesters on Sunday, opposition leader Yair Lapid proclaimed that all that matters to Netanyahu is staying in office, accusing the prime minister of focusing more on keeping his coalition partners happy than on helping citizens. affected by the war.

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