Israelis Take to Streets a Day After Gaza Strikes

Thousands of Israelis gathered on Wednesday outside the Parliament building in Jerusalem to call for a renewed cease-fire deal in Gaza and to protest political moves by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including firing the head of the Shin Bet intelligence agency.

The convergence of popular anger over both domestic and national security issues came a day after Israel carried out deadly aerial attacks across the Gaza Strip in what Mr. Netanyahu said was “only the beginning.” The strikes ended a temporary truce with Hamas that began in January and added to the uncertainty over the fate of hostages still held there.

The broad sense of national solidarity over the war in Gaza, which was set off on Oct. 7, 2023, by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, appears to be fraying. Critics accuse Mr. Netanyahu of placing his political survival and bolstering his right-wing government ahead of the country’s best interests.

The Israeli leader appears to be emboldened by the broad backing of President Trump, who has shown little opposition to his approach in Gaza. Despite its strong support for Israel, the Biden administration periodically pushed Israel to do more to avoid civilian casualties in the territory and to alleviate the humanitarian crisis there.

The Trump administration appeared to back Israel’s decision to resume wide-scale attacks, with the White House saying Israel had consulted with the United States before launching its assault. This month the Trump administration bypassed Congress to send Israel $4 billion in arms and floated a new cease-fire proposal that breaks significantly with the deal signed in January.

Opinion polls indicate that a majority of Israelis favor a complete cessation of hostilities in Gaza to secure the release of up to 24 living hostages and the bodies of more than 30 others still in Gaza. But politically, Mr. Netanyahu depends on far-right members of his governing coalition who have been pressing for a resumption of fighting, with the goal of fully defeating Hamas.

Protests were initially called for Wednesday after Mr. Netanyahu announced that he was moving to dismiss Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, citing a lack of personal trust between them. That has raised public concerns that future appointments may be based on loyalty.

Protesters closed down the main highway into Jerusalem during the morning hours as they marched into the city in scenes reminiscent of social and political upheaval that roiled the country in the months before the war over government plans to curb the powers of the judiciary. At the time, Israeli security chiefs and experts said the internal strife had contributed to Israel’s vulnerability and encouraged its enemies.

The centrist leader of Israel’s parliamentary opposition, Yair Lapid, called on people to join the protests in a social media post on Wednesday morning.

“This government does not stop at red,” he wrote. “The only solution is unity, not silent, submissive, or fake unity, but the unity of an entire nation coming together and saying: Enough!” He added: “This is our moment, our future, our country. Take to the streets!”

Merav Hemi, 45, traveled from northern Israel with her mother to join the protest. “The government isn’t acting in the best interests of the people,” she said, adding, “Instead, they’re serving their own political interests to stay in power.”

The government has long faced widespread anger from protesters who believe the hostages should be brought back at any cost. Mr. Netanyahu defended the surprise attack on Gaza on Tuesday, which killed more than 400 people, as the opening salvo in a campaign to pressure Hamas into releasing more hostages after weeks of fruitless negotiations.

From now on, he said, Israel will increase its military action against Hamas and negotiations will take place “only under fire.”

This month Israel blocked the entry to Gaza of all commercial goods and humanitarian assistance in its bid to pressure Hamas into extending the temporary phase of the cease-fire and releasing more hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas wants any further negotiations to focus on the next phase of the original cease-fire deal, reached in January, which calls for a full Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza and ending the war. Hamas is largely rejecting Israel’s conditions for ending the war, which include the group’s laying down its arms and its leadership’s leaving the Palestinian coastal enclave.

In an effort to bridge the gap, Mr. Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, backed a proposal approved by Israel for the immediate release of 11 living hostages and half the bodies in exchange for the release of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel and a roughly six-week extension of the temporary cease-fire. During that period, negotiations would take place toward a more permanent solution.

But Hamas has so far refused those terms, and Israel has made clear that it will not allow for a cease-fire without more hostage releases.

As with Gaza, the Trump administration appears unlikely to take Mr. Netanyahu to task for domestic moves.

After the Shin bet head is removed, prominent members of Mr. Netanyahu’s government have made clear, the next target is the attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, who has frequently clashed with the government. A cabinet vote late Tuesday to reinstate Itamar Ben-Gvir, an ultranationalist, as Israel’s minister of national security flouted a legal opinion by Ms. Baharav-Miara that he should not be reappointed to that role.

Some Israelis are wary of the Trump administration, which pushed Mr. Netanyahu to approve the first part of the Gaza cease-fire and hostage release deal but seems to have given him free rein since then.

“It looks great, really having President Trump on our side,” said Mitchell Barak, an Israeli pollster and analyst who worked as an aide to Mr. Netanyahu in the 1990s. But he called it a double-edged sword. If Mr. Trump changes his mind, he said, Mr. Netanyahu will have no choice and “will have to do what Trump says, whether he likes it or not.”

Louise Geva, 76, a protester from a village in central Israel, said she was thankful to Mr. Trump for pressuring Mr. Netanyahu into making the original agreement with Hamas that resulted in the release of more than two dozen hostages.

But Mr. Trump is “unpredictable,” she said, “and shouldn’t be the one we pin our hopes on.”

Natan Odenheimer contributed reporting from Jerusalem, and Rawan Sheikh Ahmad from Haifa, Israel.