Hostage protests and anti-government demonstrations again join forces to pressure PM Netanyahu

Tens of thousands of demonstrators filled the streets of Tel Aviv between Begin Street and the Kirya (military headquarters) on Saturday evening to demand a hostage deal and protest against recent government actions. 

After two weeks of near-daily demonstrations against the government on behalf of the hostages, crowds of protesters began gathering even before the official start time of 7 p.m.

Many held signs referencing the hostages, including some displaying images from a Hamas propaganda video showing hostage Elkana Bohbot pleading for his life. The video was released by Hamas on Saturday afternoon, just five days after a previous video featuring both Bohbot and Yosef-Haim Ohana.

During a rally at Hostages Square, Einav Tzangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Tzangauker, accused the government of choosing to return to fighting and abandoning the 59 remaining hostages. 

"My Matan is living in these moments," said Einav. "In these very moments, he is there, in the tunnels of hell. Not alone, but alongside a living kidnapped person with foreign citizenship, who is expected to be released in a deal that is now being made. And my Matan? He will be left behind alone in hell.” 

“The hostages are held captive by Hamas, and the entire nation of Israel is held captive by Netanyahu,” Einav said, adding, “We need one comprehensive deal, without postponements and games and without selections between hostages.” 

Yair Horn, who was released from Hamas captivity last month, said, “I was held captive by Hamas for 498 days. 498 days underground, without water, without seeing the sun, without breathing fresh air. For 498 days in Hamas captivity, I lived 'without'. I don't want 'without' anymore, I'm tired of ‘without.’" 

Horn addressed the head of the negotiating team, Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, saying, “I invite you to my house – sit with my mother Ruthie, with my brother Amos and with me, and explain to us why we will have a Seder without Eitan for another year." 

Horn told the protesters that resuming combat endangers the hostages. 

“I was there,” he said. “I heard tanks passing over me, I ran through the tunnels during the bombings, and I pulled Eitan out by the arm when he didn't have the strength to move anymore.” 

Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai also addressed the crowds, while many in the audience chanted "Strike! Strike!” 

During his speech, Huldai said the State of Israel is indeed at war, but said it was “because the government is trying to demolish the ground we’ve stood on for almost 80 years – the foundations of a Jewish and democratic state.” 

Huldai also threatened strikes if the government persisted with Judicial Reform legislation. 

"If we have to fill the streets to remind them that we are the majority, we will do it,” Huldai stated. “And if the government decides to violate the Supreme Court's ruling, we, in the local authorities, will also know how to disrupt and interrupt the routine life that the government imagines will continue.” 

Yotam Cohen, the brother of the abducted IDF soldier Nimrod, accused Netanyahu of being "determined to remain in his seat at any price, even at the cost of an eternal war and the lives of hostages and soldiers.” 

Cohen accused Netanyahu of acting like Hamas, claiming the prime minister had accused protesters of aiding Israel’s enemies, including Hamas. He drew a parallel to a recent Hamas statement, which labeled protesters in Gaza as “friends of the Zionist enemy.”

In Jerusalem, a protest march proceeded from Zion Square to Paris Square, where the main demonstration calling for the release of the hostages and opposing the government took place. Shaul Levi, the grandfather of Naama, who was released in January, said that he had lost faith in the country's leaders. 

“I want to replace them, and I will fight as long as I have breath so that darkness will turn into light," he said. 

Levi called on Netanyahu to “rescue and return the hostages – the living to their families and the dead to a proper burial. This is your supreme duty and you should not waste it.” 

A demonstration was also held in the south at the entrance to Ofakim. At the Sha'ar Hanegev Junction, Lishai Miran Lavi, the wife of hostage Omri Miran, said the Israeli Cabinet was not interested in returning the hostages. 

“Woe to all of us if my children’s father doesn't come back alive," Miran Lavi said, "because he's been surviving there for 540 days in his life. I'm a hostage and we're all hostages until they come back.” 

Day 540. No words today—only Oseh Shalom prayers.

For Omri. For me and Dani, Omri’s father. For Alma and Roni. For 59 worlds held captive in Gaza. For the people of Israel and the people of the world. For a better tomorrow—one rooted in compassion.

Good night 🎗 pic.twitter.com/U1p1zGX5mg

— Lishay Miran-Lavi (@LishayLM) March 29, 2025

Protests are expected to continue this week despite the Knesset recess, against the backdrop of a recent Egyptian proposal to extend the ceasefire during Eid al-Fitr and the Passover period.