The following was the lead article in the Israeli daily Haaretz on August 17, 2025.

That day large protests took place in Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities, alongside a partial strike across many sectors of Israel’s economy. Protesters demanded that Netanyahu’s government agree to a ceasefire deal to bring home the remaining hostages and end the war in Gaza. Demonstrators opposed the Israeli regime’s plans to escalate the war by deploying new forces in northern Gaza with the explicit goal of pushing most of the Strip’s population of about 2 million to its southernmost end.

According to Haaretz, organizers estimated that 2.5 million Israelis took part in the August 17 actions across the country. If these estimates are close to accurate, it means that up to 25% of Israel’s population of nearly 10 million took to the streets — a significant turnout.

The facts described in this article, along with other coverage in Israeli and international media, show that the main concern of the protesters was bringing back the remaining hostages — 50 still held by Hamas and its allies since October 7, 2023, of whom about 30 are presumed dead.

Concern for the lives of the tens of thousands of Palestinians being slaughtered by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in Gaza, or starved to death by deliberate Israeli government policy, seemed to be a secondary issue for some of the protesters.

As the article below reports in its conclusion, “Elad Or’s brother, Dror, was killed on October 7 [2023] and taken to Gaza. He said the Israeli public wanted to end the war. ‘The cost of the war in Gaza — for Israeli society and for the people of Gaza — has become unbearable,’ he said.” [Emphasis added.]

Such statements, expressed by a minority of the Israeli protesters, however, do seem to indicate a not-so-insignificant shift from earlier protests — such as those that took place last year in Israel — in which concern expressed by Israeli demonstrators for the Palestinians being killed and wounded by the IDF in Gaza and the West Bank was virtually absent.

The article below does not provide any information on whether any Palestinian citizens of Israel — about 20% of the country’s population — took part in the August 17 protests along with the overwhelmingly Jewish demonstrators. On this point, it is important to keep in mind that it is far more dangerous for Palestinian citizens of Israel — who have been vigorously persecuted by Israeli authorities as second-class citizens, especially over the last two years — to engage in such public street actions.

World-Outlook publishes the article that follows for the information of our readers. The headline, subhead, photos, and text below are taken from the original.

— World-Outlook editors

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Haaretz | Israel News

‘We Must Keep Disrupting, Again and Again’ |

Hundreds of Thousands of Israelis Flood Tel Aviv Demanding a Hostage Deal to End Gaza War

A mass rally in Tel Aviv’s Hostages’ Square capped a day of protests and strikes led by freed hostages and families of those still in captivity. Ruby Chen, whose son Itay’s body is held by Hamas, addressed Netanyahu: ‘After the October 7 failure, you have the nerve to say the price is too high to bring them back. Where is your shame?’

By Linda Dayan & Adi Hashmonai

Aug 17, 2025

Israelis gathered by the hundreds of thousands at Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square on Sunday evening to attend a rally that culminated a day of mass protests and workers’ strikes organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

The demonstration marked the largest protest in Israel since September 2024, when six hostages were murdered in Gaza as IDF forces approached the site where they were held.

After Israel’s security cabinet approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal earlier in August to expand operations and occupy parts of the Gaza Strip – a move which defense officials said would endanger hostages – hostages’ families had called for a general strike.

By Sunday evening, hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets across the country, with organizers claiming 2.5 million had participated in events. Police arrested at least 28 protesters as demonstrators marched, burned tires and blocked traffic, including at Tel Aviv’s central Ayalon Highway – the main highway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem – and the road leading to the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv.

Prime Minister Netanyahu, along with several ministers, accused protesters of harming the chances of returning the hostages and guaranteeing “that the horrors of October 7 will return.” Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan, responded by saying, “Netanyahu’s toxic and detached statement only proves how much the protests scare him.”

Thousands block roads across Israel

Released hostages, including Ilana Gritzewsky, Arbel Yehoud, Sharon Cunio-Alony and Yarden Bibas, joined the Sunday protests. In Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square, Protesters staged a wedding ceremony between Gritzewsky and her boyfriend, hostage Matan Zangauker.

“This day of strike is important, but it cannot be just one day,” Arbel Yehoud said. “We have to disrupt again and again until those in captivity come back.”

Since morning, dozens had demonstrated in front of the homes of several ministers, including Education Minister Yoav Kisch and Science Minister Gila Gamliel.

Thousands marched in Tel Aviv; around 2,000 protesters gathered at Karkur Junction in central Israel; thousands blocked the entrance to southern Israel’s Be’er Sheva; and over 1,000 gathered in Haifa’s Hostage Square.

A truck attempted to ram into a group of protesters from the Gaza border community of Nir Oz in central Tel Aviv, while in central Israel’s Ra’anana junction, protesters said they were assaulted by a truck driver.

Organizers say 500,000 protest at Hostage Square

According to organizers, around 500,000 people gathered in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square on Sunday evening, where the Hostages and Missing Families Forum organized an official ceremony. A concurrent mass demonstration was held at the Defense Ministry headquarters nearby.

Einav Zangauker, mother of Matan Zangauker, took to the stage at Hostage Square. “The Israeli government has never made a real effort toward an inclusive deal and an end to the war,” Zangauker said. “They turned the most justified war into a false one. Ministers took pride in torpedoing deals. They used the pain of [Israel’s] families.”

Ruby Chen, father of Itay Chen, an Israeli-American IDF soldier killed on October 7, spoke as well. “Bringing back the hostages and our children isn’t a gift to the enemy – it is a moral, ethical, Jewish act,” he said.

He addressed Netanyahu: “You and your government brought Qatari cash into Gaza for years. You turned Hamas into a monstrous war machine. On your watch, Hamas attacked the Gaza border and killed over 1,200 Israelis!”

“And on your watch, 250 hostages were taken, and 50 are still there, including my son,” Chen said. “And after that failure, you have the nerve to say that the price is too high to bring them back? Where is your shame?!”

Ofir Braslasky, father of Rom – an Israeli hostage who appeared emaciated in recently issued footage – said the government was trying to downplay the size of protests. “Enough!” he said. “This cannot go on!”

“Keep going!” he told the protesters. “Not to topple the government, but for my Rom. For the other hostages. For our country.”

Yehuda Cohen, father of kidnapped soldier Nimrod Cohen, said that “for 681 days now, Netanyahu’s October 7th government has been burying Nimrod and our other children alive.”

“My child is suffering because the government wants to conquer territory – and I am not willing to sacrifice my son on your altar,” he said. “That is not why Nimrod enlisted.”

“I feel that our grief and our anxiety bring pleasure to this sadistic leadership sitting in Jerusalem, calculating how to survive at the expense of our suffering,” Cohen said. “I see them in Knesset committees, I see them in the media – the helplessness of the public is their miracle.”

“I turn to you, dear citizens: You are our only and last way to cry out their cry, to demand the end of the war and the release of our children. I call on the public: strike, shut down, and disrupt public order until they come back.”

Kobi Ohel, father of hostage Alon Ohel, thanked everyone who took part in the protests. “We all need to think and imagine that moment – how much joy will we feel when they’re all back. Think of my hug with Alon. Imagine it.”

Michel Illouz, whose son Guy had been murdered and kidnapped to Gaza, said that Netanyahu was “afraid for his throne! He’s afraid of his trial!”

“They say that we were responsible for the next Oct 7, as if Netanyahu himself didn’t play a part in October 7, as if he didn’t play a part in the kidnapping of my oldest son!” Illouz said, referring to the minister’s warnings that protests would lead to another massacre. “As if he didn’t let in the Qatari money!”

“Say what happened on your watch, and establish a commission of inquiry,” he urged. “Only then, Bibi, can we be sure that there won’t be a disaster like that happened before.”

Zamir Haimi from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak, the uncle of Tal Haimi, who was killed defending the kibbutz on October 7, said he met President Isaac Herzog earlier and thanked him for his longtime support, but that “this time, the tone was different.” The crowd booed when the president’s name was uttered.

“After a pleasant and polite opening, the same repeated promises … I am tired of it. We are tired of it. We told the president … Change your approach. Break down the frameworks. It is time for a clear statement from you: I, Isaac Herzog, president of the State of Israel, call on the government of Israel – the time has come for action. Stop the war.”

“If you do not do this, we will not forgive you,” he told Herzog. “History will be the one to judge you.” As for cabinet members, Haimi said he thought “we do not matter to them.”

“Now everything is in our hands,” he said. “We are escalating. We are changing our approach … We are gathering our forces. We are gathering members.”

Elad Or’s brother, Dror, was killed on October 7 and taken to Gaza. He said the Israeli public wanted to end the war. “The cost of the war in Gaza – for Israeli society and for the people of Gaza – has become unbearable,” he said.

Lishay Miran-Lavi, whose husband, Omri Miran, is being held in Gaza, called in English for U.S. President Trump to “please make it happen. Seal the deal!”

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