Anti-government protests spread nationwide as demonstrators demand inquiry and electoral safeguards

Opponents of the government and its leader demonstrated on Saturday evening at several sites across Israel, calling for a state commission of inquiry and for protecting the integrity of elections. The protests included the Kabarri junction in the western Galilee, an area still threatened by Hezbollah, along with locations in Jerusalem, central Israel, and the north.

About 200 protesters gathered at the Carmiel junction to hear activist Shikma Bressler, while thousands were expected at Habima Square in Tel Aviv. Additional demonstrations were reported at Paris Square in Jerusalem, the Eliakim Bridge, Hogan Junction, Rehovot, Pardes Hanna-Karkur, and other points.

Bressler said at the Carmiel rally that real change in Israel will not come from above but from broad public vision and effort. “A deep change of the kind Israel needs will always come from below, from a shared vision, from the desire of masses that the State of Israel will be safe and prosperous,” she said.

She added that the goal is “a free Judaism, a liberal democracy,” and argued that “Israel’s security depends on it being a state with free Judaism and liberal democracy.” She also dismissed the opposing camp’s noise, saying that “less or more, zero” of its supporters had shown up, and that there is no audience for “all the poison and noise” in the streets.