Thousands of Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv Saturday to demand acceptance of a ceasefire and hostage release deal outlined by US President Joe Biden, with many fearing the premier would reject the proposal.
Israeli and US flags dotted the crowd in the central plaza they have dubbed Hostages Square, alongside banners urging: “Bring them home!”
“Biden is our only hope,” protester Abigail Zur, 34, told AFP.
The US president said on Friday that Israel was offering a new three-stage roadmap towards a full ceasefire, including the release of hostages held by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.
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Demonstrators told AFP they were worried that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would disown the deal.
“Biden cares about our hostages more than Netanyahu does,” said Karen, a protester in her early fifties, as others chanted: “Now, Now”.
Netanyahu was more concerned about his own political future, said protester Diti Kapuano, 46.
“I hope that somehow Biden puts enough pressure so the government and Netanyahu will take the deal,” she said.
Campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement: “In light of President Biden’s speech last night, we will demand that the Israeli government immediately approve the (hostage release deal) and bring all the hostages home at once.
“We will also call on all government ministers and coalition members to publicly commit to supporting the deal and not to allow the possibility of torpedoing it and endangering the hostages,” the group said, adding that it had contacted various embassies to urge them to support the plan.
Government on the brink of collapse
Netanyahu insisted on Saturday that the plan laid out by Biden did not preclude fighting on until Hamas’s ability to rule Gaza and pose a threat to Israel had been destroyed.
Two far-right Israeli ministers threatened on Saturday to quit its government if he goes ahead with Biden’s hostage release deal.
In posts on social media platform X, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said his party would “dissolve the government” while Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he would “not be part of a government that will agree to the proposed outline”.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid responded that “Ben-Gvir and Smotrich’s threats are an abandonment of the hostages and Israel’s security”, adding that they were “the worst government in Israel’s history”.
Hamas said it “views positively” the plan laid out by Biden.
With AFP
