Tens of thousands rally against Netanyahu government in Jerusalem
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Protest groups organised the rally outside the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, calling for a new election to replace the government.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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JERUSALEM – Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Jerusalem on March 31 against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and against exemptions granted to ultra-Orthodox Jewish men from military service, in scenes reminiscent of mass street protests in 2023.
Protest groups, including some that led the mass demonstrations that rocked Israel in 2023, organised the rally outside Parliament, the Knesset, calling for a new election to replace the government.
The protesters also want a more equal share in the burden of army service that binds most Israelis. Around 600 soldiers have been killed so far since the Hamas attack of Oct 7 and the ensuing war in Gaza, the military’s highest casualty toll in years.
Israel’s N12 News said the protest appeared to be the largest demonstration since the war began. The Haaretz and Ynet news sites reported that it drew tens of thousands of people.
Mr Netanyahu’s Cabinet has faced widespread criticism over the security failure of the Hamas attack on southern Israel
“This government is a complete and utter failure,” said 74-year-old protestor Nurit Robinson at the rally. “It will lead us into the abyss.”
Israel’s war in the Palestinian enclave has aggravated a longstanding source of friction in society that is also unsettling Mr Netanyahu’s coalition government – exemptions granted to ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students from service in the country’s conscript military.
With a March 31 deadline looming for the government to come up with legislation to resolve a decades-long stand-off over the issue, Mr Netanyahu filed a last-minute application
In an apparent accommodation, the Supreme Court gave government officials until April 30 to submit additional arguments. But, in an interim ruling, it also ordered a suspension of state funding for seminary students who would be liable for conscription from April 1.
Protesters were waving blue-and-white Israeli flags and chanting “elections now”.
At a news conference in Jerusalem, Mr Netanyahu said he was confident a solution would be found. He also said that holding an election at the height of war, when he said Israel was so close to victory, would paralyse the country for months.
In Tel Aviv, some families of hostages and their supporters blocked a main highway, protesting against what they described as Mr Netanyahu’s failure to return their loved ones. REUTERS
