In the heart of Tel Aviv, people fanned themselves, looking for water. The sticky heat refused to let up despite nightfall on this Saturday, June 15. That did not stop the crowds from continuing to flock to the "Hostages Square." Every week for the past eight months, on Saturdays after the end of the Sabbath, families of hostages and those supporting them have gathered here, in front of the Museum of Art, to call for the release of the Israelis still being held in Gaza (there are still 120 of them, although many have died). The demonstrations have lasted through the winter and seen the arrival of spring. And here we are now, in summer. On the contrary, mobilization is not waning – tens of thousands participated on Saturday – and it is also becoming increasingly difficult to prevent anti-government ideas from being expressed, even though family organizations are officially supposed to be apolitical.

Lili and Yossi Harari came that evening to express their solidarity with the hostage families, as they do almost every week. The two old friends were born within a day of each other in the same hospital. They both come from families of Holocaust survivors and went to the same school. They fell in love early and married exactly 45 years ago. With a single voice, they talk about the hostages, the incomprehensible conduct of the war, the army "which is at the center of Israeli society," and Lili makes no secret of her "anger" towards the one she doesn't name, and refers to by "he," as if pronouncing his name pained her mouth: Benyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister.

Yossi agreed. Clearly, they always agree on important matters. Just after the ceremony in Hostages Square, they would walk to the "other" demonstration, not far away, on Kaplan Street, whose purpose was to protest against the government. By now, many of them are taking the same route every Saturday. Lili is certain that "the protest movement against the government is not going to stop, it's a matter of life and death for our country." She explained this phrase both by the threat posed by what she described as the coalition of "Israel's enemies," foremost among them Iran, and by the "divisions" within the nation, which she believes are perpetuated by "him" who horrifies her so much. In short, they concluded together: "This government must be changed."

Water cannon

In the crowd, which was overflowing that evening onto Shaul Hamelech Boulevard, between the Museum of Art and the army headquarters, the Kirya, there is a sense of going back in time, as if it were possible to rekindle the spirit of the big demonstrations organized in the first half of 2023, against Netanyahu's government, which at their peak drew hundreds of thousands of people. October 7 put an end to this movement and although the protests resumed over the months, it never regained the same strength.

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