Protest Leader Calls for Government Ouster After Ex-PM Aide's Claims

Shikma Bressler, a prominent leader of the anti-government protests, issued a sharp response following serious allegations made by former military secretary to the prime minister, Maj. Gen. (res.) Avi Gil. Bressler called for the immediate replacement of the current government, linking its policies to the events of October 7.

"We must remove the prime minister of the massacre from power," Bressler declared. "The leaders of the 'Hamas is an asset' policy, the people of the 'miracle and the dead, and we will not enlist' era. We must."

Her remarks came in the wake of a contentious interview given by Avi Gil. In the interview, Gil detailed severe claims about the conduct within the Prime Minister's Office after the surprise attack began. He pointed to suspected attempts to alter protocols and timings of conversations held on the morning of the attack. Gil also alleged that documents presented by the Prime Minister's Office to the State Comptroller did not fully represent all discussions held at the political-security level during those critical moments.

The Prime Minister's Office and the Likud party vehemently denied these accusations, labeling them as false claims intended to shift responsibility from IDF command failures and serve a political campaign.

Separately, Bressler recently faced a defamation lawsuit threat from attorney Kineret Brashi. This threat stems from Bressler resharing a screenshot of a WhatsApp conversation that had previously been identified as a fake in 2023 and which Bressler herself had deleted. The fake conversation, attributed to the late right-wing activist Orly Lev, contained offensive remarks about residents of the Gaza envelope. After Bressler reshared the image, Brashi, whose name appeared in the fake message, warned Bressler that this instance would negate any claim of good faith, stating, "This time you will not have the defense of good faith. You and I are going to a defamation lawsuit."