monster demonstration in Tel Aviv to call on Netanyahu to move forward with a ceasefire

INTERNATIONAL – Benjamin Netanyahu more than ever under pressure. While the United States presented a plan on Friday to ” finalize “ a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, thousands of Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Saturday June 1 to put pressure on the government of the Israeli Prime Minister. And to criticize his management, considered disastrous, of the war in Gaza.

It was the largest demonstration in the country since the Hamas attack on October 7. Around 120,000 people gathered in the Jewish state’s capital to beg for help from US President Joe Biden, demand the release of hostages and protest against the government. A mobilization of impressive proportions, as you can see in the video at the top of the article. Faced with this human tide, the Reuters news agency specifies that the police used water cannons and mounted police officers to try to disperse the demonstrators, who hoped that this peace proposal could finally succeed.

Make hostages the priority

“A hostage deal now”, demanded a demonstrator dressed as the Statue of Liberty, in the middle of a cloud of Israeli flags. For the demonstrators gathered on Saturday evening, their Prime Minister is more concerned about his “ power ” than the fate of the hostages. After Joe Biden’s announcement, Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed the ” terms “ of Israel, which according to him implies “the destruction of Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities”.

The vast majority of demonstrators interviewed by AFP on site fear that these demands from the Israeli Prime Minister will jeopardize the agreement. The demonstrators therefore brandished a huge banner “ Biden save them from Netanyahu,” in reference to the 121 Hamas hostages still held in Gaza, 37 of whom are already dead according to the Israeli army.

Of the same opinion, the Forum of families of hostages and the missing affirmed that it would “ demand that the Israeli government immediately approve the hostage release agreement and bring all hostages home immediately”. “We will also ask all government ministers and coalition members to publicly commit to supporting the deal and not allowing the possibility of torpedoing it and endangering the hostages”added the NGO.

Popular and political pressure

At the same time on Saturday, two far-right Israeli ministers threatened to leave the government if Benjamin Netanyahu accepted the deal. In messages on X, Itamar Ben Gvir, Minister of National Security, said his party would “dissolve the government” if the agreement was reached, qualifying the proposal as “victory for terrorism and a risk for Israel’s security”. Bezalel Smotrich, the Minister of Finance, for his part affirmed that he “will not take part in a government which accepts the proposed plan”. On the other hand, opposition leader Yaïr Lapid pledged to support the government if the Prime Minister definitively supported the peace plan presented by Joe Biden, as the BBC points out.

In addition to popular pressure, this political blackmail places Benjamin Netanyahu in a more than delicate position within his coalition. And at this time, the proposal has still not been validated by both camps, despite the coordinated call by Qatari, American and Egyptian mediators on Saturday for Hamas and Israel to finalize the agreement, based on the principles set out by President Joe Biden. Hamas simply said that it considered “positively” the road map announced by Joe Biden, after reiterating his demands for a permanent ceasefire and a total Israeli withdrawal from Gaza before any agreement. Conditions obviously rejected by Israel.

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