Thousands converged on Tel Aviv Saturday for a major anti-government demonstration, three days before a general election widely seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership.
The rally was organized by the October Council, a group founded by families of victims and hostages from the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack that triggered the war in Gaza. The group is demanding accountability for the security failures that enabled the assault and is calling for the establishment of a state commission of inquiry.
“Three days before the election, we will hold the culminating event marking three years of struggle to uncover the truth, demand accountability, and establish a state commission of inquiry,” the October Council posted on X ahead of the gathering.
The demonstration is expected to draw prominent figures from opposition parties. Current polls indicate a tight race, with Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc, in power since late 2022, running neck-and-neck with a rival bloc led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot. Neither coalition is currently projected to secure a parliamentary majority.
“Whoever has been leading us for the past four years has done such a terrible job,” Hadas Feuershtein, 68, told AFP before the rally began. “Israel has never been in a situation as it is now.”
The October Council warned law enforcement of potential disruptions, reporting “alerts about attempts by entities linked to the coalition to disrupt tonight’s rally” in an urgent letter to the Police Commissioner.
The protest follows years of campaigning by civil society and opposition parties for an independent investigation into the October 7 security failures. Netanyahu’s government has resisted establishing such a body — a standard mechanism in Israel for probing major state failings — proposing instead a “political” commission split between coalition and opposition appointees. Opposition leaders have vowed to boycott any politically appointed panel.
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