by Lila Li
On Saturday, March 22nd, Israel saw its largest protests since the war in Gaza began in October of 2023; over 100,000 Israelis marched in protest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war, as well as his revived attempts to overthrow the country’s judiciary.
Israelis of all political affiliations have flocked to these demonstrations; even former hostages and the family members of current hostages have attended and spoken at rallies, with prominent participants including the sister of slain hostage Itay Svirsky, pre-war protest leader Shikma Bressler, and the parents of hostage Matan Zangauker. Freed hostages including Emily Damari, Yarden Bibas, and Keith Siegel, as well as IDF soldier and prisoner-of-war Liri Albag, also called for an end to the war, releasing statements claiming the resumption of war would serve as a death sentence for the hostages remaining in Gaza.
On Monday, March 31, a dozen people were arrested after protesters clashed with Israeli police—the cousin of freed hostage Arbel Yehoud was among those arrested. Two protesters were also detained as part of a group blocking the Begin highway and touting a poster reading, “What about the hostages?” These protests also extend beyond Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza, further regarding the deep corruption now sweeping Israeli politics as Netanyahu fights to remain in power.
In a hugely controversial decision, Netanyahu on March 20 ordered the early dismissal of Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet—Israel’s security and domestic intelligence agency—who held the position during the massive operational failure of October 7. Netanyahu has claimed his dismissal is on the grounds of declining social and professional trust following October 7; relations between Netanyahu’s coalition and the Shin Bet soured further when the latter released a report in early March 2025 attributing the events of October 7 to not only internal security failures but wider policy issues precluding the attack. In particular, the report posited that Hamas’ decision to attack was at least partially contingent on Netanyahu’s far-right government’s worsening of its treatment of Palestinian prisoners and on the perception that Israel’s social cohesion was weakened after—similarly—protests broke out following attempts by Netanyahu to weaken the judiciary.
Netanyahu’s firing of Bar has exacerbated rifts within the Israeli government—both the center-right Yesh Atid party and Bar himself have denounced it as a “blatant conflict of interest.” Opponents further claim the decision only serves to weaken the country both internally and against enemies. Netanyahu’s efforts to appoint a replacement for Bar have likewise met extensive criticism—on March 31, he nominated Eli Sharvit as the new head of the Shin Bet, but rescinded this nomination only 24 hours later amid added reproval. Israeli Opposition Leader Yair Lapid labeled Netanyahu’s indecision as a “violation of national security”; conversely, Republican senator Lindsey Graham opposed the nomination over Sharvit’s past criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump. Indeed, Netanyahu and the Likud party seem more closely aligned with the foreign administration of the United States than the rest of the Israeli government; this increasingly close alliance reflects Netanyahu’s understanding that his political power will collapse if he falls out of favor with Trump. It is this prioritization of Trump’s will, rather than the wellbeing of the Israeli people, that has culminated in such controversial recent policy and, consequently, protests of such magnitude and fervency from Israeli citizens.
Over the past week, Palestinians have likewise participated in the largest demonstrations against Hamas since the start of the war, with the largest amassing hundreds of protesters. Hamas has historically employed violent responses to shut down dissent; indeed, militants reportedly forcibly dispersed protests in Beit Lahiya. These demonstrations reveal a fundamental frustration with Hamas and the prolonging of a war that has killed tens of thousands of friends and family members—in particular, the aforementioned protest in northern Gaza came a day after Islamic Jihad gunmen fired on Israel and prompted Israel to order the evacuation of large parts of the region. In response, Hamas has urged protesters not to shift blame away from Israel.
Protests from both citizenries come as Israel has dramatically escalated its attacks on Gaza since it unilaterally ended the ceasefire on March 18; in the two weeks since, it has killed over a thousand people, including women and at least 322 children (UNICEF). Israel has recommenced issuing mass evacuation orders for entire towns, forcibly displacing tens of thousands of Palestinians—some for the tenth time or more. For weeks, its 2.2 million inhabitants have been wholly deprived of food, water, and essential goods and services, as Israel maintains its total blockade in an attempt to crush Palestinian resistance.
Needless to say, Israelis and Palestinians are far from agreement over human rights and humanitarian responsibility. Indeed, many Israelis are still solely protesting over concerns that the resumption of war will endanger the few dozen remaining hostages, while disregarding the hundreds of Palestinians slaughtered in just the past few weeks. But over seventeen months of war, both citizenries have realized their respective governments’ approaches to war will only lead to more deaths. The lives of millions of innocents, including dozens of hostages, have been used as politicians’ instruments to string along a decades’ long conflict. Israelis and Palestinians no longer have faith in their leadership to hold their people before politics; the only way forward, they have concluded, is to inject their own voices into the discussion.
Meanwhile, the pressure on Netanyahu continues to clarify itself into two paths forward: either Netanyahu matches the Western descent into fascism, or falls into obscurity himself.
Lila Li is an intern at Massachusetts Peace Action.