Thousands of protesters gathered at dozens of locations across Israel on Saturday night calling for a hostage deal and elections just hours after news of the rescue of the four hostages – Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv – broke.
Demonstrators turned up in Tel Aviv, Beersheba, Ra’anana, Haifa, Caesarea, Karkur, Jerusalem, and other locations around the country. In Tel Aviv alone, according to organizers, tens of thousands attended.
The protests in Tel Aviv ended late Saturday night. According to the Israel Police, several hundred protesters violated public order, lit bonfires, and engaged with the police in clashes. This resulted in the arrest of 33 of the demonstrators.
Hostages released today told their family members that, while in captivity, they saw the protests and knew that people were fighting for them at home, according to the N12 news site.
Organizers used this report as a rallying cry to encourage Israelis to take to the streets on Saturday night, and, alongside the celebration of the rescue, continue to fight for the 120 hostages still remaining in Hamas captivity.
Mother vows to fight
Einav Zangauker spoke at a protest in Tel Aviv, addressing her son, Matan, who is still being held hostage, telling him that she will “not let the prime minister torpedo the [hostage] deal.”
“My Matan, if you can hear me, I will fight for you day and night. I will not rest and I will not be silent,” she said.
“I want to shift from the momentary and important euphoria to the challenge we are facing and the depth of the strategic failure we are in,” said former IDF intelligence chief Lt.-Gen Amos Malka, speaking at a protest in Tel Aviv.
“Woe to the captains of the country if they use this uplifting moment for political gain. Blatantly ignoring a strategic, diplomatic possibility would mean missing another lever of pressure and distancing us from the countries of the world toward dangerous international isolation,” he added.