Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in various parts of Israel on Saturday night, calling for new elections and the return of hostages held in Gaza, as reported by The Times of Israel.
In Tel Aviv, a significant gathering on Kaplan Street featured a poignant moment when David Grossman, one of Israel’s most esteemed authors, addressed the crowd. Grossman read a poem urging Israelis to rally for their nation, saying, “There’s someone and something to fight for. For such a gift, from life, we will nevermore receive… Now’s the time to rise, to live. To be a people or not to be. To be people or not to be… All hangs by a thread.”
Yuval Diskin, the former chief of Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency, delivered a scathing critique of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, labeling him as “the worst and most failed prime minister in the history of the state.” Diskin, who led Shin Bet from 2005 to 2011, emphasized the urgency for early elections.
Diskin admitted his initial reluctance to join the protests, citing concerns over national unity during wartime. However, he expressed his disillusionment with the government's performance, citing "the government’s uselessness, the failed management of the war, the lie of ‘total victory,’ the total evasion of responsibility, the destruction of our strategic relations with the United States, and perhaps most of all, missing every opportunity to return our kidnapped brothers and sisters, who continue to languish in Hamas captivity in Gaza.”
In Jerusalem, demonstrators carried signs demanding early elections and an end to the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
The main rally concluded peacefully, but tensions escalated as some protesters remained, blocking roads and burning tires. Mounted police intervened to disperse the crowd, resulting in the clearing of the road and the arrest of three protesters.
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