Protests against Netanyahu escalate in Israel as thousands rally in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
The protests took aim at the Knesset’s decision to begin a six-week recess while Israelis are still held hostage in Gaza

Tens of thousands attended an antigovernment protest outside the Knesset in Jerusalem on March 31, 2024. Photo by Susan Greene
(JTA) — In the largest antigovernment demonstration since Oct. 7, thousands of protesters gathered in Jerusalem to call on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to step down and for Israel to reach a deal to free the hostages held in Gaza.
The demonstration on Sunday night kicked off a four-day vigil by the protesters in front of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, and came following an antigovernment protest in Tel Aviv on Saturday night that likewise drew thousands. Protesters in Jerusalem attempted to block a nearby highway and lit bonfires on its lanes, while some set up tents to camp out in the capital. Organizers said 100,000 attended the demonstration.
Taken together, the demonstrations and their tactics were a return to the days before Hamas’ invasion of Israel on Oct. 7 launched the war. At that time, weekly demonstrations centered in Tel Aviv routinely brought more than 100,000 people into the streets to protest Netanyahu’s government and its effort to weaken the judiciary.
Those protests came to an abrupt halt on Oct. 7 and the protest groups pivoted to providing aid and relief to victims of the attack as well as soldiers. But recently, some of the same groups have been organizing growing weekly demonstrations against Netanyahu and calling — often with family members of the hostages — for the government to do more to secure a deal for their release.
The demonstrators blame the government for negligence surrounding Oct. 7. and for failing to get the rest of the hostages out — more than 100 were released during a ceasefire in November. This week, they also took aim at the Knesset for taking a six-week recess that will begin on April 7, the six-month anniversary of the war. Polls show that the current government, which took office at the end of 2022, has low approval ratings and would lose an election were it held today.
“First of all we want elections because we think this government is not representing the public and second of all we think it is not a good time to take a recess when the hostages are still there,” said Moshe Radman, a leader of the Jerusalem protest, according to the Times of Israel.
More than 130 hostages remain in Gaza, around 100 of whom are thought to be alive. Indirect negotiations between Israel had Hamas have stopped and started again in recent weeks, but Hamas has rejected Israeli offers of a temporary ceasefire and release of Palestinian security prisoners in exchange for the hostages. The terror group has demanded a permanent ceasefire and complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel’s parliamentary opposition, spoke at the Jerusalem rally and decried the government for being irresponsible and ineffective.
“If we want to end the war, we need a different government,” Lapid said. “This government will not win.”
Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister, focused his criticism of the rally on Brothers in Arms, a combat veterans group that led the anti-judicial overhaul protests last year and was one of the organizers of Sunday’s protest in Jerusalem.
“I fiercely condemn the provocateur organization ‘Brothers in Arms’ that occupies itself time and again with fanning the flames of civil war and dividing Israeli society,” Ben-Gvir wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “They are the ones who led a campaign to refuse [military duty] before Oct. 7, and now are continuing their message of provocation and hate. They are the last ones who should purport to care for Israel’s security.”
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 2
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 3
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 4
Culture How two Jewish names — Kohen and Mira — are dividing red and blue states
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward ‘Another Jewish warrior’: Fine wins special election for U.S. House seat
-
Fast Forward A Chicagoan wanted to protest Elon Musk — and put a swastika sticker on a Jewish man’s Tesla
-
Fast Forward NY attorney general orders car wash to stop ripping off Jews with antisemitic ‘Passover special’
-
Fast Forward Cory Booker proclaims, ‘Hineni’ — I am here — 19 hours into anti-Trump Senate speech
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.