Israel: Will protests put pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach deal with Hamas?

YoIsrael experienced a general strike on Monday which halted the services of some educational institutions, banks and even Tel Aviv airport for several hours to pressure the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach an agreement that would allow for the release of hostages still held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Although the call did not manage to completely paralyze activity in the country, This is one of the biggest acts of pressure against the government. Netanyahu since the start of the war in October 2023 and exposes the divisions within the Hebrew nation.

The strike was called by the Histadrut trade union confederation, which represents the majority of public sector workers in Israel. The confederation has not called for such a strike since March 2023, when it called for a strike to reject Netanyahu’s decision to fire his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, amid criticism over his controversial judicial reform.

This time, the protest was called after The army found the lifeless bodies of six hostages in Hamas tunnels in the Gaza town of Rafah on Saturday night. The bodies belong to hostages Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Almog Sarusi, Ori Danino and Alexander Lobanov.

According to the autopsy by Israel’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine, The hostages were killed by several shots at close range between Thursday and early Friday morning.

According to an AFP report, of the 251 hostages and bodies transferred to Gaza on October 7, 2023, 117 were released – mainly women, children and foreign workers -, 64 are still being held and are believed to be alive, and 70 are dead. 37 bodies of deceased hostages have already been repatriated and 33 remain in Gaza.

This is how the general strike was experienced in Israel

Due to the general strike, banks and shopping malls remained closed. Kindergartens also closed their operations and schools operated half-day.

Public transport was also affected and operated on a limited basis during the morning hours, while Ben Gurion International Airport halted flight departures for just two hours before resuming at around 10 a.m.

Although the airport doors remained open, workers did not unload luggage from flights and other images showed the check-in counters closed.

At the same time, Relatives of hostages and dozens of citizens intermittently blocked roads and intersections, including major roads in Tel Aviv. In the evening, protesters gathered outside Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem demanding his resignation and the signing of a truce in Gaza.

We are stopping everything to make sure our voice is heard

On Sunday, Dozens of people also took to the streets to demand Netanyahu’s resignation, early elections and an urgent agreement leading to the release of the hostages.

“We are stopping everything to make sure our voice is heard, to say we don’t want to do anything until they are here,” said protester Michal Hadas-Nahor from Tel Aviv.

However, Monday’s strike did not last the planned 24 hours or completely paralyze activities in the country.

Israel’s labor court ordered an end to the nationwide strike following a request from the prosecution, claiming that the call was political in nature and did not respond to a labour demand, which forced the general strike to be stopped at 2:30 pm local time, eight hours after it began.

The judicial brake was added to the fact that The strike was not followed throughout the country. While Tel Aviv and Haifa joined the mobilization, Jerusalem and other places such as Ashkelon did not join the strike.

Pressure mounts against Benjamin Netanyahu

And it is that, The discovery of the hostages’ bodies has rekindled the anger of dozens of Israelis, who believe that those killed could have been released. in an agreement with Hamas if negotiations between the parties, sponsored by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, had been successful.

At the same time, Protesters accuse the government of obstructing the talks for political reasons, preventing the kidnapped people from returning alive.

If it weren’t for the delays, sabotage and excuses in months of mediation efforts, the six hostages would probably still be alive.

“If it were not for the delays, sabotage and excuses during months of mediation efforts, the six hostages would probably still be alive,” the Hostage Families Forum said in a statement.

An analysis of the local newspaper Times of Israel review that even within Netanyahu’s own cabinet it has been said that The prime minister “should have been more flexible in his efforts to convince Hamas to reach an agreement.”

Some executive officials, the newspaper says, “They have credibly accused the Prime Minister of having been influenced by his own political considerations, amid warnings from his far-right allies that they would bring down his government if he reached a deal they consider reckless.”

Now, the main stumbling block to reaching an agreement in the negotiations is the future of the Philadelphia Corridor, the border between Gaza and Egypt, since Netanyahu refuses to allow his troops to withdraw from the route.

“The Philadelphia corridor will not be evacuated. If Israel loses its control, Gaza will become a kingdom of terrorism. It is Hamas’s oxygen tube,” Netanyahu said on Monday at a press conference in which he He also apologized to the families of the six dead hostages. “I apologize for not bringing them back alive. We were close, but we didn’t make it.”

If Israel loses control, Gaza will become a kingdom of terrorism. It is Hamas’ oxygen tube.

How much will street pressure do to push for an agreement? An analysis by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz ensures that The current marches show that the moment Netanyahu so feared, when Israelis’ grief over the October 7 attack would turn to anger, seems closer than ever. and that cabinet decisions could only change if the protests become a constant and not just a one-off event.

“The moment that (Netanyahu) so feared – when grief will turn to anger, exhaustion will give way to energy, apathy and ‘normality’ will disappear and the Ayalon Highway (one of Israel’s most important) will burn again – seems closer than ever,” the newspaper said.

Nomi Bar-Yaacov, a researcher at the International Security Program at Chatham House, for her part, told the British newspaper The Guardian that The outrage over the discovery of the bodies of the six hostages could lead to an earthquake and a new level of political pressure against Netanyahu. “It’s not just another step in the war,” he said.

In addition to pressure on the streets, Netanyahu is also facing growing international criticism. On Monday, for example, US President Joe Biden said that Netanyahu is not doing enough to reach an agreement, while the British government suspended 30 of the 350 arms export licences to Israel over fears they could be used to violate international law.

Media outlets such as the Washington Post have also revealed that the United States will present a final ceasefire plan in the coming days, which, if rejected, could mean the abandonment of the talks.

Netanyahu, however, does not seem willing to give in to the demands of the streets and on Monday promised that “Hamas will pay a very high price.” over the killing of the hostages. “We say yes and they keep saying no, but they also killed those people and now we need maximum pressure on Hamas. Hamas must make concessions,” he insisted.

Thus, as the New York Timesthe discovery of the hostages will continue to highlight the struggles in Israel between those who want to dismantle Hamas through persecution and those who are betting on a truce that will allow the return of the hostages.

Hamas’s armed wing spokesman, Abu Obeida, meanwhile, warned on Monday that the Israeli prime minister’s refusal would result in the death of the remaining hostages. “Netanyahu’s insistence on releasing the prisoners under military pressure, instead of reaching an agreement, will result in them returning to their families in coffins,” he said.