Thousands of Israelis protest for return of hostages, slam Shin Bet chief’s dismissal

By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) - Thousands of Israelis rallied in central Tel Aviv late Monday, urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza and protesting his decision to sack Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.

The demonstration, held in HaBima Square, saw chants against Netanyahu, reflecting growing frustration over his leadership, according to the Yedioth Ahronoth daily.

The protest coincided with the eve of a Supreme Court hearing scheduled for Tuesday set to review opposition petitions challenging Bar’s dismissal.

Tensions flared when a right-wing activist clashed with demonstrators, shouting anti-Bar slogans before police intervened, according to the daily.

Ilana Gritsevsky, a released Israeli hostage whose husband Matan Tsengaoker remains in Gaza, addressed the crowd.

“Israel must propose an initiative to release all hostages at once,” she declared. “I’m here to scream at the government: Free them all now.”

She accused Netanyahu’s administration of abandoning 59 captives for 549 days, noting their lives are endangered by Israeli airstrikes.

The rally followed the collapse of a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the US. Its first phase, effective Jan. 19, ended March 1, with the Palestinian group Hamas adhering to its terms.

However, Netanyahu reneged on starting the second phase, resuming military operations in Gaza on March 18 to appease his far-right coalition allies, Israel media reported.

Retired Maj. Gen. (Res) Noam Tibon, a former Northern Corps commander, warned that appointing a Shin Bet head loyal solely to Netanyahu poses “a grave danger to Israel’s security.”

He accused the government—formed after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack—of systematically undermining security agencies.

“They’ve let (far-right National Security Minister) Itamar Ben-Gvir harm the police. They’re dismantling the army with a despicable draft-dodging law, and now they’re targeting Shin Bet,” Tibon said, referring to a controversial exemption for ultra-Orthodox Jews from military service.

“Netanyahu isn’t fit to make security decisions.”

Israel estimates that 59 hostages remain in Gaza, including 24 believed alive, while over 9,500 Palestinians are languishing in Israeli prisons, facing torture, starvation and medical neglect according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights reports.

More than 50,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.