Hamas’s killing of six Israeli hostages on 1 September, shortly before they could be rescued, has shifted the size and tenor of the protests that have been roiling Israel’s streets for months.
Previous tragedies, such as the accidental killing of three hostages by Israeli troops in December, or the collapse of a ceasefire deal at the last minute due to secret briefings to the media from a “government official” (widely believed to be Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself), did not trigger protests of the scale now taking place in Israel – an estimated 750,000 people have been protesting the government in recent days.
And not only are more people protesting than ever before, but the composition of the crowds is changing as the demonstrations become more diverse. The latest protests have seen more Mizrahi and working-class Israelis taking part, with the Histadrut trade union body calling for a general strike on 2 September. There are also notably more young people involved (counter-intuitively, younger Israelis tend to be more right-wing than older Israelis), and youth movements such as the Israeli version of the scouts are becoming more vocal in their criticism of the government’s handling of the hostage negotiations.
There has also been a shift in demands, with more people now calling for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the war, not just the release of the kidnapped. Previously, even calling for the return of the hostages was viewed as “left-coded”, with the relatives of the hostages receiving abuse and violence from supporters of the government. But now more centrist and moderate Israelis are backing an immediate ceasefire.
Yet, this increasing opposition to the war among the public as a whole appears to have little to no effect on the government. Netanyahu remains determined to continue the conflict, and appears to have given up on recovering the hostages, with 97 still held in Gaza (although 36 of them are presumed dead). Almost a year after the 7 October attacks, it is hard to believe that he is still in power, given that he presided over the greatest catastrophe in the history of the country – but as long as he has the support of his bloc in the Knesset, his hard-right coalition can continue, irrespective of public opinion.
With the government refusing to make concessions, the police are becoming notably heavier handed in response to the growing demonstrations: on 7 September, over 60 protesters were arrested on spurious charges, and were all later released on the orders of a judge. One 27-year-old woman, Noa Goldenberg, was arrested after throwing a handful of sand at security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and disappeared for a couple of days, leading to serious concerns in the press and from her family about her welfare. It later transpired that she was taken to the Neve Tirza Women’s Prison in Ramla, a breach of standard protocol (other detained protests were taken to local jails). The police are threatening to bring terrorism charges against Goldenberg, claiming her actions didn’t constitute a political statement but rather posed a threat to national security.
It is an ominous sign that the police crackdown has coincided with the swelling number of Israelis turning against the war and the government. In recent days, interactions between overwhelmingly peaceful protesters and the police have increasingly resembled the protection of an illegitimate regime by a politicised police force.
While outrage is widespread, hope is in short supply. One Haaretz journalist, comparing the protests of the past week to those which paused Netanyahu’s proposed judicial reforms last year, noted that “the hope on the protesters’ faces [has been] replaced by despair and rage“.
And the war continues. On Tuesday another 40 Gazans are believed to have been killed by an Israeli strike in a so-called “safe zone”. The Israeli protests against the war will continue but the only certainty is more bloodshed.
[See also: Can Michel Barnier save Emmanuel Macron?]
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