Thousands protest Netanyahu government in Israel

In Israel, tens of thousands of people are demonstrating against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government’s attempt to dismiss Ronen Bar, the Director of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet or Shabak), and the decision to resume attacks on Gaza.

The focal point of the protests was West Jerusalem, where the Knesset (Parliament), the Prime Minister’s Office, and other government buildings are located.

Demonstrators blocked Highway 1, one of the country’s main arteries between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, in the early hours of the morning, causing long queues.

Subsequently, tens of thousands of people gathered in the square in West Jerusalem, near the Knesset, ministries, and state buildings, protesting and calling for the resignation of the Netanyahu government and early elections.

Demonstrators carrying Israeli flags and yellow ribbons representing the Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip were joined by former senior politicians such as former Prime Minister Ehud Barak and former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon.

Protesters, who were demonstrating against the government’s decision to resume attacks on the Gaza Strip, chanted slogans and carried posters and banners accusing Netanyahu of “risking the lives of Israeli captives by launching an attack on Gaza for political reasons.”

Meanwhile, some citizens participating in the demonstrations in West Jerusalem stopped their vehicles in traffic and carried out acts of civil disobedience, causing traffic congestion in many parts of West Jerusalem.

Yair Lapid, leader of the main opposition party Yesh Atid (There is a Future) in Israel, called on Israelis to participate in the demonstrations in a post on his social media account.

Stating that they “decided to take to the streets because the Netanyahu government has lost its legitimacy,” Lapid said that “silence in the face of the destruction caused by the government gives the government more time to tear the country apart.”

According to The Times of Israel, Brigadier General (Ret.) Amir Haskel of the Israeli Air Force was taken into custody by Israeli police near Netanyahu’s home in West Jerusalem while chanting slogans with a megaphone.

Netanyahu’s announcement on March 16 that he would dismiss Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar was met with intense reaction from the opposition and Netanyahu’s opponents.

The Israeli Attorney General’s Office warned that the move could be unlawful because Shin Bet was investigating two files in which Netanyahu’s close advisors were being investigated.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office stated that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara had “perversely exceeded her authority.”

While Israel was experiencing a political crisis, the Netanyahu government broke the ceasefire with Hamas on March 18 and launched violent attacks on the Gaza Strip.

In the air strikes carried out by the Israeli army on the Gaza Strip on the morning of March 18, at least 400 people, mostly women and children, lost their lives, and more than 500 Palestinians were injured.

In a statement made by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, it was stated that the attacks were launched upon the instructions of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, and that action would be taken against Hamas with “increasing military force.”

Hamas, on the other hand, announced that “Israel did not keep its promises and resumed its genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip by not fulfilling its responsibilities in the presence of the mediating countries regarding the ceasefire.”

The families of the Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip accused the Netanyahu government of “giving up on the captives” by breaking the ceasefire, and stated that the government’s justification for restarting the war to bring back the captives was “a complete deception.”

Opposition parties in Israel also pointed out that the attacks had resumed under the shadow of controversial political steps, such as Prime Minister Netanyahu’s dismissal of the director of the domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet.