Overview
- Crowds in several cities across Israel, which gathered Saturday, protested the government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
- The Pro-Democracy Protest Movement organized the main rally at Tel Aviv’s Habima Square, where chants backed democratic safeguards and a peace agreement with Lebanon.
- Demonstrators also appeared at highway junctions and at sites including Haifa, Jerusalem’s Paris Square near Netanyahu’s home, and the Kfar Yehoshua bridge in the north.
- Protest signs quoted slain former leader Yitzhak Rabin and rejected a “judicial deal,” pointing to Netanyahu’s November pardon request as he faces charges of corruption, fraud, and breach of trust.
- Turnout picked up after a 40-day conflict with Iran limited rallies under emergency rules, in a movement that since 2023 has also urged a state commission to probe security failures before Hamas’s October 7 attack.