More than 100,000 Israelis have staged an anti-regime rally ahead of the closely fought elections that will determine the political fate of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The protest took place in Tel Aviv on Saturday, three days before Israel’s first general elections since the genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.
It was organized by the October Council, a group founded by the families of Israelis taken captive three years ago by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
The protesters called for the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry into Israel’s security failures that led to Hamas’s Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, something which Netanyahu has refused.
“Three days before the election, we will hold the culminating event marking three years of struggle to uncover the truth, demand accountability and establish a state commission of inquiry,” the October Council said in an X post ahead of the rally.
Elhanan Danino, whose son was one of six captives who died in Gaza in late August 2024, said the Tel Aviv regime had not set up a probe because it had “something to hide.”
Among those participating at the rally were leaders of Israel’s opposition parties, including former military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, who is Netanyahu’s main rival.
Eisenkot of the Yashar party was greeted with cheers and chants from the crowd of “Who’s coming? The next prime minister.”
Additionally, the leader of the Democrats, Yair Golan, attended the rally.
“Starting this coming Wednesday, we will work to establish a state commission of inquiry that will bring the truth to light and do justice to the families,” he said of the day after the elections. “This is our duty. This is our mission. We will rehabilitate, build and repair. This is our calling.”
Israel's parliament (the Knesset) has 120 seats. No party has ever won the 61 seats required to secure a majority outright, meaning that the occupying regime regularly relies on the formation of a coalition.
Most opinion polls project that the Yashar party will take 20 to 23 seats of the 120 up for grabs in the Knesset, more than Netanyahu’s Likud party.
The Israeli regime waged the Gaza genocide on October 7 after Hamas carried out a historic operation against the usurping entity in response to the Israeli regime’s atrocities against Palestinians.
Two years later, however, Israel was forced to agree to a ceasefire after it failed to achieve declared objectives.
Since then, Israel has violated the truce with near-daily attacks on Gaza. The criminal regime has killed a total of 74,540 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 175,678 others over the past three years.
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