In the heart of Tel Aviv, we fan ourselves, we look for water. The humid heat, which refuses to subside despite nightfall on this Saturday, June 15, does not prevent the crowd from continuing to flock to the “place des otages”. For the past eight months, every week on Saturdays after the end of the Sabbath, families of hostages and those who support them have gathered here, in front of the Art Museum, to call for the release of Israelis still held in Gaza. (120 remain, many of whom are dead). The demonstrations went through the winter and saw the arrival of spring. It’s now summer. The mobilization is not weakening, on the contrary – several tens of thousands of people were present this Saturday evening -, and it is also becoming more and more difficult to prevent ideas against the government from being expressed there, even if, officially, family organizations are supposed to be apolitical.
Lili and Yossi Harari came this evening to express their solidarity with the hostage families, like almost every week. The two old accomplices were born within a day in the same hospital. They both came from families of Holocaust survivors and went to the same school. They fell in love early and got married just forty-five years ago. With the same voice, they speak of the hostages, of the incomprehensible conduct of the war, of the army “which is at the center of Israeli society”and Lili does not hide her ” anger “ towards the one she does not name, and designates with a ” he “as if pronouncing his name would scratch his mouth: Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister.
Yosi agrees. We can clearly see that they always agree on what is important. Just after the “hostage square” ceremony, they will march to the other demonstration, not far away, on Kaplan Street, the object of which is to challenge the government. Many of them now make this same journey every Saturday. Lili is certain, moreover, that “the protest movement against the government is not going to stop, it is a question of life and death for our country”. She explains this expression both by the threatening existence of what she describes as the coalition of “enemies of Israel”at the forefront of which is Iran, but also because of the “divisions” of the nation, maintained according to her by this ” he “ which horrifies him so much. In short, they conclude together: “We must change this government. »
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