Weekly protests also took place in Jerusalem, Haifa, Beersheba and other cities and intersections around the country on Saturday night and Sunday. Thousands of protesters rallied in Tel Aviv and other locations against the far-right government and for a Gaza hostage release deal.  Saturday afternoon an Arab-Jewish demonstration was held by Partnership for Peace near Kafr Qara Junction at Route 65 demanding to stop the war in Gaza and occupation of the Palestinian territories.

MK Ofer Cassif (Hadash) among protestors in Kafr Qara Junction at Route 65 demanding to stop the war in Gaza and occupation of the Palestinian territories, Saturday, December 14, 2024 (Photo: Zo Haderekh)

Some 5,000 people rallied outside the Israeli army headquarters on Tel Aviv’s Begin Road, as the Hostages and Missing Families Forum held its weekly rally a block away at so-called Hostages Square. Both were preceded by an anti-government group rally at the Begin-Kaplan Junction, known by activists as Democracy Square.

At the rally outside army headquarters, Einav Zangauker, the outspoken mother of hostage Matan, accused far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of purposely derailing negotiations, declaring into a megaphone that she would be his “worst nightmare” should he fail to bring her son back alive. “I know from talks with officials in the negotiations [with Hamas] that you have no intent to bring back Matan, that you lied to me,” she said. “That you have no intent to end the war in return for a comprehensive deal.”

“You said you are committed to bringing back everyone, but you are planning to bring only a few hostages and kill the rest with military pressure,” she charged. “I’m not threatening, I’m letting you know you will have no forgiveness, no clemency,” Zangauker continued. “I, personally, will persecute you if my Matan comes home in a body bag.” “Ben Gvir and Smotrich have made you into a rag, but I know how to handle rags like you,” Zangauker agreed, referring to racist ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir. “Because of the political considerations negotiations are being held on a partial deal and not a comprehensive deal,” she said, while bashing Smotrich and Ben Gvir for “pushing for the establishment of settlements in Gaza and not being ready to end the war.”

During the demonstration in Jerusalem, former retired officer Brig. Gen. Amir Haskel and a leading protest figure were arrested. Police said they arrested a total of four people at the rally in Jerusalem, two for disrupting public order, and two others for trying to prevent police from carrying out one of the arrests. During the rally, protestors against the genocide in Gaza called to “refuse to be criminals, don’t bomb children,” imploring those who serve in the Israeli military to refuse continuing their service in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and the occupied territories.

Thousands of anti-government protesters marched in support of the hostages and against government attempts to revive judicial overhaul legislation in Rehovot, Kfar Sava, Haifa, Kiryat Gat, Ofakim, Nahariya, Shar Hanegev and Gomeh Junctions, while 1,000 protesters blocked the Karkur Junction in northern Israel.

On Sunday morning, at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, dozens of women dressed in black stood in a demonstration to protest the starvation of Palestinians in Gaza by occupation forces. According to the organizers, “The Israeli government is using food and water as weapons, starving an entire population and harming millions of people. It is time for a ceasefire and the return of the hostages.”

Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=32311