“Shame! Bibi resigns! In prison!” Pain turns into anger, tears into screams. Against Benyamin Netanyahu, who is guilty of “doing nothing” regarding the fate of the hostages – at least 120 – kidnapped by Hamas in the October 7 attack. And because of this, “he has to go now.”
Family members of the abductees gathered near the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv to demand action for their loved ones, swallowed by the darkness of Gaza. “Now!” they shout, waving their photos and signs reading “Take her home!” in Hebrew and English. The first to stop was a father looking for his three children kidnapped by terrorists: “I’m not leaving here until they come back.” Little by little, other parents, sisters and friends joined him. As the hours passed, the Kaplan Street intersection was besieged by at least 200 people, forcing police to block traffic in a city otherwise deserted for fear of war and the customary Sabbath rest.
“He was screaming, ‘Don’t kill me,’ you know? ‘Don’t kill me!'” a woman tells ANSA, sobbing, holding up the symbolic image of the tragedy of the music festival that was punctuated with blood that morning: her face distorted by the fear of it Noa Argamani, the student who was dragged away on a motorcycle by Hamas men while screaming the desperate phrase: “Don’t kill me!”. Another family member wants to remember her smiling, with a photo of a serene Noa on her chest, posing in the mountains.
Instead, the dark glasses hide the tears of the mother of Liri Albag, an 18-year-old soldier who served near the Gaza border. “They took her in her pajamas,” she says next to her eldest daughter, who is holding her by the arm. Together they appeal: “To the whole world: help us bring her home,” they plead, before tears choke their voices.
With dozens of Israeli flags blowing in the wind, another demonstrator criticizes the prime minister: “He goes on TV and gives empty speeches.” He has no relatives among the victims of the massacre or among those kidnapped, but – he explains – “I could Don’t stay at home without doing something.” He usually protests against Netanyahu and his judicial reform every Saturday. These demonstrations were stopped on the day of the attack: “Now we are here for these people.”
A Netanyahu supporter happens to pass by the intersection and clashes with some demonstrators: “This is not the time to attack the prime minister,” he accuses, the only voice in the chorus. Tempers flare and the police intervene to remove him as he continues to shout: “Rak Bibi”, “only Bibi”. The country is now united for war, but many believe there must be a reckoning at the end of the current conflict, as happened after the Yom Kippur War that cost Golda Meir the premiership. According to many analysts, the same fate could await Netanyahu. already involved in three trials against him.
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