Hostage forum slams anti-gov’t protest featuring beheaded Netanyahu

The Tikva Forum for Families of Hostages issued a fierce condemnation Saturday night of those demonstrating against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, accusing them of exploiting the plight of captives held by Hamas in Gaza to push for undemocratic regime change in Israel.

Thousands of Israelis rallied across Tel Aviv, with demonstrators at “Hostage Square” demanding an immediate hostage deal with Hamas, while protesters at nearby Habima Square called for Netanyahu’s ouster. The two protests later merged outside the IDF’s Kirya headquarters on Begin Road.

But it was a controversial display—featuring masks of Netanyahu’s face surrounding a bloodied, bandaged protester—that drew swift backlash from the Tikva Forum and the prime minister’s Likud Party. The forum said the demonstration “had nothing to do with the hostages” and accused protesters of “sacrificing the hostages in an attempt to overthrow the government.

“In a civilized country, there would already be dozens of people arrested for inciting murder,” the group wrote on social media. It criticized Israel’s security services for failing to act and warned that tensions between Netanyahu and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) Director Ronen Bar must not interfere with protecting the prime minister.

Netanyahu’s official X account reposted the Tikva Forum’s statement, while Likud described the protest scene as “madness” and “incitement to murder.”

The number of protesters opposing the Israeli government is declining, and the vast majority of Israelis do not support the extremist elements among them, Religious Zionism Knesset member Simcha Rothman told JNS at the JNS International Policy Summit in Jerusalem on Sunday.

“The numbers are going down. The vast majority of the public in Israel does not support those extremists protesting against the government, and that’s why their numbers are dropping,” Rothman said. “When they see their numbers falling, they become more violent, because they need to be heard, and they can’t be heard through numbers.”

Rothman added that the protesters no longer enjoy the international support they once received during demonstrations against the government’s judicial reforms.

“They do not get the backup they had during the judicial reform protests from the Biden administration or other foreign powers. So they need to shout louder,” he said.

He accused senior officials of selectively enforcing the law against demonstrators.

“The attorney general, the head of the Shin Bet and people in the prosecution turn a blind eye and allow them to break the law,” Rothman charged. “We will not allow it. You cannot have one standard of law enforcement for right-wing demonstrations and a different one for left-wing demonstrations. It must be equal, and we will make sure that equal treatment under the law is preserved.”

The Tikva Forum’s rebuke highlighted the growing schism between hostage families aligned with different political camps. While many hostage relatives have urged Netanyahu to agree to a deal—even at the cost of ending the war on Hamas’s terms—the Tikva Forum has insisted that military pressure remains key to rescuing captives.

The Saturday night protests were otherwise dominated by calls for a final hostage deal. Families of captives accused Netanyahu of dragging out negotiations for political survival, with some likening the phased releases to historical atrocities. Former hostages, including Meirav Tal, stressed the unbearable conditions in captivity and the urgent need to bring all the remaining 59 hostages home, some 24 of whom are still thought to be alive.

Speakers at the parallel anti-government protest took an even harsher tone, with former Shin Bet and IDF leaders accusing Netanyahu of endangering Israel’s democratic character. Some called for nonviolent civil disobedience to force political change.