After the speech, the crowd sang the national anthem and listened to a speech by Ron Scherf of the Brothers in Arms reservist protest group, which clashed this week with Education Minister Yoav Kisch after he declared the group\u2019s activists would be banned from speaking in schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think they\u2019ll stop us from speaking to students? They\u2019ll shut one door, and we\u2019ll open 50,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re fighting for the State of Israel\u2019s identity and existence. Will we be a Jewish, democratic, strong and secure state, or a zealous messianist one?\u201d<\/p>\n \t Carmit Palty Katzir, whose brother Elad<\/a> was killed in Hamas captivity, said a \u201cmoral gulf\u201d separates Netanyahu from his detractors.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018They sanctify death, and we sanctify life,\u2019\u201d she said, quoting Netanyahu\u2019s own comments about Hamas. \u201cNetanyahu said these words and allowed countless deaths and murders to take place.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are paying dearly for this conduct,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Referring to her brother and some 40 other hostages who were killed in captivity, Palty Katzir said, \u201ceach one is an indictment\u201d against Netanyahu.<\/p>\n \t She said Herzog should have immediately rejected Netanyahu\u2019s request<\/a> that the president put an end to the criminal proceedings against the premier, who is accused of corruption.<\/p>\n \u201cNetanyahu is not asking for a pardon and is not worthy of a pardon,\u201d she said. \u201cHe is asking to stay in power, without checks or balances. President Herzog should have immediately thrown out such a request.\u201d<\/p>\n Eyal Eshel, father of slain surveillance soldier Roni Eshel<\/a>, slammed a reported proposal that Herzog pardon Netanyahu in exchange for a state commission of inquiry into failures surrounding the October 7 attack \u2014 something Netanyahu has resisted.<\/p>\n \u201cThere will be no pardon for Saturday, October 7,\u201d he said. \u201cThere will be no pardon for the people who failed in a manner that brought about the debacle and disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n \t The demonstration dispersed after Sharon, the emcee, led the crowd in singing the Hanukkah song \u201cWe\u2019ve come to banish the darkness.\u201d The eight-day festival of light begins on Sunday night.<\/p>\n In addition to the main demonstration in Tel Aviv, protests were held in Jerusalem, Haifa and at other cities and junctions across the country.<\/p>\n In the southern community of Sha\u2019ar Hanegev \u2014 Gvili\u2019s hometown \u2014 freed hostage Eitan Horn<\/a> said: \u201cUntil Ran returns home, I cannot begin my recovery. We all feel this pain, and for us this process cannot start until he returns.\u201d<\/p>\n He declared: \u201cWe must not stop! We need the entire nation of Israel to unite to support the Gvili family, regardless of political opinion. This is the time to learn from the mistakes we\u2019ve made as a society and as a people, and to repair this, by not leaving Ran behind.\u201d<\/p>\n In Meitar, Lishay Miran Lavi, the wife of freed hostage Omri Miran<\/a>, said: \u201cWe must not leave anyone behind. I\u2019m here because I promised that I would be wherever they needed me until the last hostage\u2019s return. I am here because this wound won\u2019t scab, and none of us can get up and recover as long as Ran is still there.\u201d<\/p>\n \t Israel was roiled in 2023 with weekly protests on Saturday nights against the government\u2019s plans to overhaul the judiciary. The demonstrations, which brought hundreds of thousands to the streets, stopped after the Hamas attack on October 7 triggered the subsequent war.<\/p>\n Weekly protests soon resumed, however, demanding the government strike a deal with the terror group to secure the return of the hostages it abducted in the onslaught.<\/p>\n Most of those protests ended soon after the return of all remaining living hostages as part of a US-brokered ceasefire deal reached in October. However, the return of deceased hostages\u2019 bodies has lagged, and protests have persisted<\/a>, both to demand that the state ensure that every last hostage is returned to Israel for burial, and against the government generally.<\/p>\n Gvili is the only hostage whose body remains in Gaza. Terror groups in Gaza purport not to know where he is buried, though a report from the Channel 12 news outlet on Friday said Israel has provided mediators<\/a> with a list of the names of Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives believed to have direct knowledge of his body\u2019s location.<\/p>\n Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tBrothers in Arms leader Ron Scherf speaks during a protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, on December 13, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni\/Flash90)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/F251213CG05-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tPeople protest against a pardon for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside the President\u2019s Residence in Jerusalem, on December 13, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg\/Flash90)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/F251213AVS33-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tEyal Eshel, whose daughter Roni Eshel was serving as a surveillance soldier when she was killed on October 7, 2023, speaks at a protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, on December 13, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni\/Flash90)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/F251213AVS35-e1765653567370-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tAnti-government protesters rally at Habima Square, Tel Aviv, on December 13, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni\/Flash90)<\/p>\n
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