Police arrest 17 people during Israel's largest protest against Iran's war. International | Country

Hundreds of people gathered in Tel Aviv, exceeding the limit set by the army after appealing to the Supreme Court.Agents crush the protest.

Police arrested 17 in the largest demonstration of the war against Iran

Hundreds of people gathered in Tel Aviv, exceeding the limit imposed by the army after an appeal to the Supreme Court.Agents suppressed the protest by pushing

They could only number 150, after a request to the Supreme Court to reconcile the right to demonstrate with restrictions on the power (50) of missiles by Iran and Hezbollah, but several hundred more gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday in the largest demonstration in Israel against the war it has launched in Iran with the United States. Just like last week, when only dozens gathered, the police intervened to disperse it,with 17 arrests and unprovoked pushes.The protesters continued until the reality of the conflict prevailed: a mobile phone alarm announced the imminent arrival of an Iranian firearm, and both the participants and the police took cover in an underground car park.

By then and an hour and a half away, protesters were unfurling banners and shouting slogans such as "Enough of eternal war", "Only peace brings security", "Stop killing", "No war" or "Government is your blood, our money."The demonstrations were dominated by two groups: the recently founded group Omdim Beyahad, which advocates coexistence between Jews and Arabs;and Hadash, a communist-inspired Arab party, received thousands of Jewish votes.

The rest, as seen on T-shirts and stickers, were a mix of Jewish Israelis from a variety of political positions advocating pacifism, criticizing the occupation of Palestinian territory, or protesting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policies over the past decade.A returning Palestinian family.

Tel Aviv, as usual, was the epicenter of the protests, but hundreds of people took to the streets in other cities such as Haifa and Jerusalem.Even in limited and specific numbers after ACRI, the country's largest human rights organization, filed a petition in the Supreme Court at the last minute.They were called only to the nearest shelters.In Tel Aviv, on the square overlooking the Habima Theater, near the city's largest theater.

"It is our duty to take to the streets against the wars in Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank," shouted a co-leader of Ommid Bayahed, Aron Lee Green, into a megaphone as he was eventually arrested and handcuffed by activists. Other chants referred to old struggles against Netanyahu after he was indicted in three corruption cases ("Government of criminals!") and the mass protests in 2023 (the biggestin the history of the state) against Netanyahu's reforms that would harm the Supreme Court and grant more powers to the executive authority.

They came to a section of the population in the politics of dreams in a military country and a country in which each of the various wars of the last two and a half years was experienced as impossible.But this Saturday's arrival also shows a small but growing shift in the national mood.On February 28, when Israel and the United States opened the war with a large wave of bombs that killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other political and military leaders, the atmosphere in Israel is one of euphoria.A poll by Israel's Democratic Institute for Analysis put the support of most Jews at 93%.Another, from the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, at 91%.

Five weeks later, Iran continues to launch daily missiles at the country, its regime remains in place and the goals stated in the initial frenzy appear far from being achieved.The water cooler of realism also reduces support.In the latest poll by the Israel Democracy Institute last week, this fell to 78%.Above all, the proportion "clearly" supporting it fell and the proportion opposing it increased: it rose from 4% in the early days of the war to almost 11%.

Nitzan Neuman (38) represents those who expressed their reservations in recent weeks.She claims to be happy about the selective killing of Khamenei by his army on the first day of the war due to "violations of human and women's rights", although she admits that she is "confused", aware of "what is coming" and generally does not believe in wars as a way to resolve conflicts.

Now she has come out in public wearing earrings with a dove of peace and a sticker with the slogan "Fuck War" to demand an end to it."I came because this country is in freefall and I want it to look like a place where I want my kids to grow up," she says, before naming three more specific reasons.One is to make the death penalty the standard sentence in military courts in the occupied West Bank for Palestinians who kill Israelis in the context of the conflict.The government passes laws as draconian expansion "in the shadow of war"."This is more typical of a dictatorship," he laments.

Neumann also criticizes the results of the campaign (“he only got control of the Revolutionary Guards, which are more radical”) and distrusts Netanyahu's coalition, the most right-wing in the country's history.

Another protester, Tal, 58, on the other hand, was clear from his refusal from the beginning ("This leads us nowhere and only serves Netanyahu's interests," he concluded), but he came for the first time motivated by violent repression last week, which contrasts with the weakness that the authorities allow larger gatherings every day almost everywhere.

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