“Take them out of hell”: Israelis protest across the country demanding hostage-taking
Thousands of people took part in pro-hostage rallies and anti-government protests across the country on Saturday evening, the fourth night of Hanukkah, days after Israel and Hamas again accused each other of blocking negotiations on a deal to release Hamas and Hamas held prisoners to have caused the failure of other Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza.
The families of several hostages made the comments at a press conference in Tel Aviv before the rallies began.
Yehuda Cohen, the father of hostage Nimrod Cohen, claimed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to “deceive” US President-elect Donald Trump into believing he was genuinely interested in a deal with Hamas.
“Dear President Trump, Netanyahu is trying to deceive you. “Ending the war and returning all hostages is in the interest of the State of Israel,” Cohen said. “You could be the last person in a position to put pressure on Netanyahu. “Do not compromise on a partial agreement that is a death sentence for the remaining hostages and does not lead to an end to the war.”
“Netanyahu and the defense minister’s talk about continuing the war and maintaining military control over Gaza serves the extremists in the government and contradicts Israeli interests,” he added.
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Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, addressed Netanyahu during the press conference, accusing him of “rushingly torpedoing” recent efforts to conclude a hostage deal.
Einav Zangauker speaks at a press conference for the hostages’ families on December 28, 2024 in Tel Aviv. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
“Netanyahu is afraid of it [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben Gvir and [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich and refuses to end the war, which is completely contrary to Israeli interests,” Zangauker said. “Netanyahu and [Defense Minister] Israel Katz sits in heated rooms and brags about continuing the war while my Matan and the other hostages freeze and rot in the tunnels.
“The blood is on your hands,” she added. “End this war and get my Matan and all the hostages out of this hell.”
Zangauker shouted at the crowd: “Netanyahu, remember, history will not forgive.”
On Saturday evening, the prime minister’s office also denied a Channel 12 report that Israel and Hamas might agree to a “limited” hostage deal as a goodwill gesture before the start of Trump’s second term. The report said both sides are interested in reaching a smaller agreement in time for Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
In a brief statement, the PMO called the report “a complete lie.” A senior Arab diplomat also denied the report to the Times of Israel.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum rally on Saturday evening in Tel Aviv was opened by former hostage Yocheved Lifshitz, who was released last November and whose husband Oded remains in captivity. Lifshitz lit the Hanukkah candles with her son Yizhar at the start of the rally.
Israel and Hamas accused each other last week of delaying negotiations over the hostage deal, which appeared to have gained new momentum in recent weeks.
The forum attacked Netanyahu for apparently aiming for an agreement that initially only provided for the release of so-called humanitarian cases – female, elderly or sickly hostages.
“After 14 months, they are all humanitarian,” the forum said Thursday in an announcement of its weekend rallies, warning that the hostages may not survive the coming winter.
Israelis protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and demand the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, Israel, December 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Yair Mozes, son of hostage taker Gadi Mozes, told hundreds of people in Hostages Square: “Again there are negotiations and again we hear the prime minister and the defense minister making public statements that only prevent the return of everyone.”
Israeli negotiators were reportedly dismayed by Netanyahu’s statement to the Wall Street Journal last weekend that he would not sign a deal ending the war and by Katz’s statement from Gaza’s Philadelphi Corridor on Wednesday that Israel would take security control of the will keep the Gaza Strip, and see them as dismayed by Hamas’ position.
“How long can this go on?” asked Mozes. “What more [must happen]? Everyone already knows it [the hostages] I don’t have any more time.”
A rally demanding the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, December 28, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
A block from the Hostages Square rally, anti-government activists as well as the families of some hostages and their supporters protested outside the Begin Road entrance to IDF headquarters.
This protest was reinforced by demonstrators at an earlier event nearby against the return of the government’s judicial reforms.
The protest against the overhaul, organized by the Free in our Homeland movement, began with a march from Habima Square in Tel Aviv to the intersection known by activists as Democracy Square. At the protest, Democratic Party leader Yair Golan vowed to overthrow the government and replace it with “loyalists of Zionism and democracy.”
Democrat leader Yair Golan (third from left) and former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon (second from left) march with current and former MPs at an anti-government protest in Tel Aviv on December 28, 2024. (Benny Meshy/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
Golan, a former general who leads a coalition of the left-wing Labor and Meretz parties, praised the audience for coming week after week to protest against “this terrible government.”
“You are the everyday heroes,” he said.
He accused the government of carrying out “poisonous” propaganda that promotes “lies, racism and hatred”; “Dismantling the justice system and democratic institutions”; prolonging the war in Gaza to stay in power; and the failure to establish a commission of inquiry into the events leading up to the Hamas attack that sparked the war, “because they know that a state commission of inquiry will hold them responsible for what happened on October 7th, what happened before and what happened afterwards.” ”
Demonstrators gather outside the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv on December 28, 2024, for a rally demanding action to release Israeli hostages held since the October 7 attacks by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. (Jack GUEZ/AFP)
“We are the power, and with that power we will drive it out, silence the poison machine and return this nation to a discourse of reason,” he said.
After Golan’s speech, the legendary Israeli rock band T-Slam played their 1990 protest song “Face of the Nation,” in which a corrupt politician promises material favors to people who vote for him.
Danni Bassan, the lead singer, said the band is scheduled for the weekly protest against judicial reform, scheduled to take place on October 7, 2023.
Protesters gather outside the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv on December 28, 2024 for a rally demanding action to release Israeli hostages. (Jack GUEZ/AFP)
Protesters also gathered in other cities across Israel, including Haifa, Herzliya, Rehovot and Jerusalem.
Police arrested five people Saturday morning who were protesting against a hostage deal outside Netanyahu’s Jerusalem home, according to the Detainee Support Group, a team of lawyers who volunteer on behalf of detained anti-government protesters.
Channel 12 reported that protesters were arrested on their way back from the 20-minute demonstration that included two dozen participants. According to the report, police pursued the group and accused them of violating noise laws. The protesters were interrogated and later released.
Israelis protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and demand the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, Israel, December 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
