AGI – Night of demonstrations and protests in Tel Avivwhere tens of thousands of people filled the city center demanding the government to continue the agreement for the release of the hostages and for the dismissal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. She was the most impressive event from that following the Hamas massacre of October 7: around 120,000 people joined by other demonstrations in numerous locations across the country.
In Democracy Square, after the end of the official demonstration, people continued to chant slogans for the release of the hostages. Some activists lit a bonfire and videos posted on social media show skirmishes with the police. According to Haaretz, two protesters were arrested and the police used a sound cannon to disperse the demonstrators. The Ynet news site reported that 14 police officers, including the deputy commander of the Tel Aviv Police Department, were injured during clashes with protesters.
The protests at the intersection of Begin and Kaplan Streets, nicknamed Democracy Squarehave been held every Saturday evening since the movement against the justice reform advocated by the ultra-conservative government began, except for a pause of a few months following the attack on 7 October.
The first speaker at the rally was Shaul Meridor, the former head of the budget department of the Ministry of Finance, who became known to the public in 2020 for resigning in protest against the budgetary conduct of then-Finance Minister Israel Katz.
“One step away from a victory that will never come, we are surrounded by enemies, the whole world is against us,” Meridor said, referring to Netanyahu’s repeated claims during the war that Israel is close to achieving its goals.
