Tens of thousands of people on the streets against Netanyahu – Liberation

They walk in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, but also in all the cities of Israel. Tens of thousands of people gathered in the streets of the country this Saturday evening, to claim, again and again, the Liberation Hostages always retained in Gazabut also to oppose Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and His burnt earth policyignoring, day after day, respect for the rule of law and the pillars of Israeli democracy. And while he has been pursuing the strikes on Gaza since the ceasefire breaking this week and, since this Saturday, again on Lebanon. According to Lebanese media, the strikes, in retaliation after rocket fire from Lebanon, according to Israel, killed five people and injured eleven.

These demonstrations, which bring together all the strata of the population, including parents and their children in elementary schools, come to conclude a week of intense protests against the government and its decision, in particular, to dismiss Ronen Bar, the head of internal security (Shin Bet), a decision suspended by the Supreme Court, but which Benyamin Netanyahu has threatened not to respect. As he threatened to orchestrate the dismissal of the general prosecutor Gali Baharav-Miara, guaranteeing respect for democracy. In addition, the break in the truce and the resumption of strikes against Gaza have strengthened the fears about the safety of the hostages between retained in the enclave. There are around sixty hostages, of which at least 34 are dead, according to the Israeli army.

In the procession, demonstrators brandished signs where was inscribed « More blood shed »,, « How much blood still has to be shed » Or « Stop war now! » In the middle of a cloud of Israeli flags.

During a rally in Jerusalem, Danny Elgarat, brother of Litzhak Elgarat, hostage killed in Gaza and whose body was returned to his family last month, said the Prime Minister wanted the hostages to return to Israel « Dead and silent, unable to tell their story ». Netanyahu « Said the security of the state and the lives of soldiers and hostages to fascists, racists and messianic politicians »he added.

As soon as the nightfall, thousands of demonstrators gathered on the Place Habima in Tel Aviv, then had to join the families of the hostages installed, as every week, in front of the Ministry of Defense. The head of the opposition, Yaïr Lapid, spoke before the crowd by calling for a general strike if by chance the Prime Minister persisted not to respect the decision of the Supreme Court freeing the dismissal of the chief of the Shin Bet. « If the government of October 7 decides not to obey the court’s decision, it will become that day an outlaw government »said Yaïr Lapid. « If this happens, the whole country must stop (…) The economy must go on strike, the Parliament must go on strike, the courts must go on strike, the authorities must go on strike, and not only the universities, but also the schools »he added. « Nothing is more important than hostages, nothing is comparable »said the opposition chief. «  »But we are also gathered to say to Gali Baharav-Miara, and to Ronen Bar, and (to the president of the Supreme Court) to Isaac Amit: you are not alone ”.

At the same rally, Yaïr Golan, the president of the Party of Democrats, of center-left, who had been violently pushed to the ground by the police during a demonstration Thursday in Jerusalem, directly arrested the chief of police Danny Levy by warning him that he risked « remaining in the memories like someone who will oppose his own people ». He also called for the union between his party, that of Benny Gantz, the party of national unity and that of Lapid, the Yesh Atid.

Amir Kochavi, mayor of Hod Hasharon, a city in the center of Israel, called Benyamin Netanyahu and his ministers not to oppose the court’s decision. He expressed himself on behalf, he said, mayors of « Like Aviv, Rahat, Haifa, Gush Dan, Emek Hefer, Umm al-Fahm, Herzliya, Metula and at least 60 other regional and local councils and other municipalities in various geographic and demographic regions ».

Saturday evening, the American embassy in Israel published an alert inviting American citizens to « Being particularly cautious » facing « The evolution of the security situation, including the resumption of red alerts and large -scale demonstrations ». The demonstrators had planned to walk on Saturday evening to the residence of Benyamin Netanyanou, while other rallies are scheduled for Sunday in Jerusalem, while the government has planned to organize a vote of distrust against the general prosecutor. A demonstration against the dismissal of the general prosecutor is notably scheduled for Sunday before the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, and near the Prime Minister’s private residence in Jerusalem.

In a video broadcast on Saturday evening, Benyamin Netanyahu persisted and challenged the Supreme Court, saying that « Ronen Bar will not stay at the head of the Shin Bet, there will be no civil war, and Israel will remain a democratic state ».