Saturday, thousands of people gathered in Tel-Aviv for a demonstration against the Israeli government, three days ahead of legislative elections widely perceived as a referendum for or against Benjamin Netanyahu.
The event organized ‘three days before the elections’ is ‘the culmination of three years of fight for the truth, to demand accountability’, according to the organizers.
Organized by the October Council, a group founded by families of victims and hostages from October 7, this event is to call for a commission of inquiry into the security breaches that allowed the Hamas Palestinian attack that day, the deadliest in the country’s history.
Thousands of people marched toward Hostages’ Square, an esplanade designated as such during the Gaza war to host weekly demonstrations demanding the return of those who had been abducted by Hamas.
The government of Benjamin Netanyahu has so far refused to establish a commission of inquiry, though it has been demanded by many Israelis.
The main opposition figures running in Tuesday’s elections – the first since October 7, 2023 – have all promised to set it up if they win.
They appeared at the rally according to Israeli public television.
Prime minister’s main rival, the centrist Gadi Eisenkot, was warmly welcomed. The former army chief has been highly critical during the campaign of the handling of October 7 and the conduct of the war in Gaza by the current prime minister.
Also present at the rally were the current opposition leader Yair Lapid (center) and his ally Naftali Bennett (center-right nationalist), former Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman (right), and the leader of the Democrats Yair Golan (left).
In this final stretch before the elections, the last authorized polls to be published – Friday night – show results still as tight. The two camps are neck and neck, with 50 seats for Netanyahu’s bloc and 52 for the opposition bloc formed around Eisenkot, far from the 61 seats needed in the Knesset to govern.
Gadi Eisenkot has planned one final campaign event on Sunday, and Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid are to meet supporters in Tel Aviv. The others, notably Benjamin Netanyahu, have yet to announce anything for now.
