Thousands marched in Tel Aviv on Saturday to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of the general election.
The demonstration, organized by the October Council—a coalition of families of victims and hostages from the October 7 Hamas attack—demanded an independent inquiry into the security failures that let militants breach Israeli borders.
Opposition leaders Gadi Eisenkot, Yair Lapid, and others joined the rally, underscoring the political stakes and pledging to boycott any commission appointed by the ruling coalition.
Netanyahu, in a separate X post, floated a "bbCoin" digital economy, warning that a repeat war could force Israel to sever ties with global markets and that multibillion‑dollar weapons packages from Washington would soon dry up.
The rally drew vocal criticism from residents such as Hadas Feuershtein, 68, who said the past four years of governance had failed to protect citizens, and from young voters like Naama Bitterman, 18, who told reporters she believed the anti‑Netanyahu bloc could restore Israel’s international standing.
The protest follows a surge of sanctions targeting Israeli settlement goods and a recent warning from Iran that it could attack undersea cables if hostilities resume.