Masses of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening in an anti-government protest, days before the October 27 general election, with demonstrators calling for a commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack.
The protest, titled “In three days, vote for a state commission of inquiry,” was organized by the October Council, an organization of October 7 survivors, former hostages and bereaved families critical of the government. It was held in the square outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, known after the Hamas attack as Hostage Square. Weekly gatherings were organized there in solidarity with the families of hostages and their loved ones kidnapped during the war.
People from all over the country crowded into the square and spilled out into nearby streets. The packed crowd was dotted with Israeli flags, many emblazoned with the words “Hofshi Beartzenu” (Free in Our Land), the name of an anti-government protest group. According to the organizers, more than 100,000 people participated. Police have not assessed the figures.
Elhanan Danino, whose son Ori was one of six hostages murdered while in Hamas captivity in late August 2024, suggested that the government failed to investigate the Hamas-led attack because it had “something to hide.”
“A little more than three years after that bitter and terrible day in which our sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters were kidnapped, massacred, burned, raped and murdered, the leaders have still not made the decision to carry out the most important and necessary thing: an investigation to discover the truth,” Danino said at the protest.
“Anyone who avoids forming a state commission of inquiry probably has a reason,” he said. “It’s been three years and they still haven’t found the time to set up even a parliamentary or government commission of inquiry, probably because there is something to hide.”
With just three days until the election, speakers urged rally attendees to make sure to vote Tuesday.
Israelis often wish each other a “good week” on Saturday evening, after the end of Shabbat. Danino said he hasn’t been able to wish that on anyone since his son was kidnapped three years ago.
“But I wish us all a week of good news,” he added to applause.
Viki Cohen, whose son Nimrod was kidnapped on October 7 and released last October, said she would “not let the truth of what happened on October 7 be buried the way my son was buried underground, in dark tunnels, for two years.”
“The heads of the security establishment (who failed) are gone. It is now time for the political level to take responsibility,” she added.
Alongside around 20 people affected by the attack, including former hostages Yocheved Lifshitz and Gadi Mozes, Cohen appealed to the public: “When you go to the polls, remember everyone: those who were kidnapped, those who were murdered, those who fell in battle; survivors of the massacre, wounded in body and mind; families whose lives have collapsed. »
Meanwhile, Mali Zender, mother of Noa Zender, who was murdered by Hamas terrorists during the Nova music festival, recounted the pain of losing her daughter, but stressed: “Tonight I am not here just to talk about my personal pain, because the massacre that took place here is not a private tragedy – it is the greatest national disaster in the history of the country.
“I’m here three days before the most fateful election of our lifetime here, and I’m not asking you to vote for one candidate or another. Above all, I’m asking you to go vote, do what our children cannot do for themselves and vote on their behalf as well: choose responsibly,” Zender said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s electoral favorite and main rival, Yashar Party Chairman Gadi Eisenkot, attended the protest and was greeted with enthusiastic cheers and chants from the crowd: “Who’s coming? The next prime minister.”
Other leaders of the anti-Netanyahu bloc, including Democratic Party Chairman Yair Golan, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, B’Yachad leader Naftali Bennett and party No. 2 Yair Lapid, were also present.
Golan led supporters of his left-wing party in a march from Rabin Square to the larger demonstration at Hostage Square.
“Starting next Wednesday, we will work to create a state commission of inquiry that will shed light on the truth and bring justice to the families,” Golan said the day after the election. “This is our duty. This is our mission. We will rehabilitate, build and repair. This is our calling.”
Netanyahu’s Likud party petitioned the central election commission on Thursday to try to prevent the rally from being broadcast on major television channels, arguing that it constituted “election propaganda.”
The commission’s chairman, Judge Noam Sohlberg, rejected the request, citing a lack of sufficient factual basis.
A state commission of inquiry is Israel’s highest investigative authority, with the unique power to investigate national disasters, subpoena witnesses and issue personnel recommendations that could end political careers. It is created by government decision, but acts independently of it and includes experts selected by the judiciary.
Netanyahu has refused to open such an investigation into the October 7 disaster, arguing that an independent panel appointed by the Supreme Court would be biased against the government.
Since the attack took place, a state commission of inquiry into failings surrounding the massacre has been a major demand of the victims’ families and others, and opposition parties have pledged to create one if they come to power.
Several families of the Oct. 7 victims plan to show up at polling stations Tuesday with photos of their loved ones, aiming to ensure voters remember those who were murdered and taken hostage, as well as those who fell in combat.
Naama Bitterman, 18, a first-time voter, said at Saturday’s rally that she was confident the anti-Netanyahu bloc she supports would have the upper hand in the vote and improve Israel’s international standing, tarnished by three years of war in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran and a surge in violence in the occupied West Bank.
“I think if we win – and we will win – we can change the way other people around the world perceive us,” she told AFP.
Eyal Eshel, whose daughter Roni was among the 16 surveillance soldiers killed at the IDF’s Nahal Oz base on October 7, told protesters: “No one has taken responsibility to this day. I want to remind everyone that this is the greatest disaster in the history of the State of Israel.
“How is it possible that those who must provide answers want to decide for themselves who will investigate? Is this what accountability looks like? I am a grieving and broken father, but I am also a father who will never stop fighting for the truth.”
Former hostage Danielle Aloni, who was taken with her children to Gaza and released after 49 days, said: “That day, it was not just people who were taken from us. We were also deprived of the basic sense of security that allows us to wake up in the morning, send our children to kindergarten or school and know that they will come home.”
Of Tuesday’s vote, she said: “I can’t give back to (my daughter) Emilia the childhood that was taken from her, but I can fight for the childhood that still awaits her. In three days, we can start writing a different story for our children.”
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