Tens of thousands of Israelis rallied in Jerusalem on Sunday night in the biggest protest against Benjamin Netanyahu’s rightwing government since the start of the war with Hamas in October last year.
The protest, partly organised by groups that had led a wave of anti-government protests last year, called for early elections as well as a deal for the roughly 130 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza to be released.
Bearing banners reading “Elections now”, and chanting slogans such as “You destroyed the country and we will fix it”, the crowd gathered outside Israel’s parliament before a few hundred tried to block Begin Boulevard, one of the main roads around Jerusalem.