Blocked Roads, Clashes With Police: Thousands Rally Against Netanyahu's Government Across Israel

About a thousand people demonstrated in Caesarea near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's home, calling for elections. Some protesters blocked a road, and police forcibly removed them Four protesters were arrested and one was evacuated by Magen David Adom rescue services after she was slightly wounded in the head during a confrontation with police, according to witnesses.

Amir Heskel, an activist in the anti-government protest movement, spoke at the demonstration. "In January, I was arrested three times during a legal demonstration near the prime minister's residence here in Caesarea. On Saturday night, there was severe violence and arrests at the demonstration in Tel Aviv," he said.

"We will continue the actions while constantly increasing the number of demonstrators, until there are several tens of thousands who will besiege the Knesset for two or three days, day and night, and stop the state," he added.

According to Heskel, "Yes, there will be forced dispersions, there will be water cannons, there will be arrests. I learned first hand that it is not terrible, I have lost my fear of the police. This is the price we have to pay to leave a reformed country for our children and grandchildren."

Hundreds of people rallied outside President Isaac Herzog's residence. From there, protesters marched to Paris Square, where they held a rally to demand the release of Hamas hostages in Gaza.

Ron Besin, a member of Kibbutz Zikim near the Gaza border, spoke during the rally and addressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying, "Throughout your years as prime minister, you disregarded the periphery and the Gaza border villages while building Hamas. On October 7, you abandoned us to our terrible fate.

"As long as you are prime minister, we have no hope, no chance to restore the border communities," Besin said. "We're calling from here to dissolve this bad government and go to elections now."

About 300 people demonstrated in Be'er Sheva, calling for the return of the hostages and early elections. Among those present are about 50 family members of Hamza and Yusuf Alziadna, a Bedouin father and son still held hostage. The younger two teenage siblings, Aisha and Bilal, who were also taken hostage on October 7, were released in the previous hostage deal.

Hundreds of protesters marched in Haifa in Israel's north, calling for immediate elections, on their way to the weekly anti-government demonstration. They carried signs saying "No racism in Haifa" and "Haifa will remain together."

Protesters said that this demonstration will be marked by the local elections at the end of the month.

Israeli philosopher Asa Kasher said in Haifa that objections to the return of hostages are despicable, and "contrary to morality and a religion that does not have idols of real estate," adding that a war of self-defense is a just war, while a war for the establishment of settlements in the Gaza Strip is not.

According to Kasher , the government must act immediately to return the hostages. "How is it possible that other countries in the world care more about the fate of the hostages than Israel? It's a shame." Kasher added that "the moral principle of protecting human life gives the effort to save the hostages a top priority, even at the cost of a cease-fire and the release of [Palestinian] prisoners."

Earlier on Saturday, Histadrut Labor Federation Chairman Arnon Bar-David said that a date needs to be decided upon for the elections and said that Netanyahu "has driven us to the edge, to a place we should not be at… He should take responsibility for what happened, and then make his decisions for himself. I would quit if I were him."

Bar-David added that "we all want change, but unfortunately are not managing to create it. This is one of my central missions I have taken on for the upcoming year, upcoming months. To change the state of Israel from top to bottom, because we cannot go on like this. We need elections, we need a restart. We need to set a date, the end of the year, December, until then we can win the war, fix it up, arrange things and go to orderly elections and build something new. We are all desperate for something new."