Protests against the government begin across Israel: Calls for 'immediate elections' for Netanyahu

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's failure to resolve the hostage crisis with Hamas has led to the start of large-scale protests across the country. Former Israeli Prime Minister and main opposition leader Yair Lapid stated that the Netanyahu government has failed to secure the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. Arguing that the government must resign, Lapid called for "immediate elections."

Main opposition leader Lapid, in a post on the X social media platform, stated that members of the Netanyahu government were blaming the families of Israeli hostages in Gaza during television programs, writing, "You have lost your minds."

Emphasizing that Israelis were taken hostage while the Netanyahu government was in power, Lapid said, "You haven't been able to bring them home for six months, and now you are blaming their families? This government of destruction must go. Immediate elections."

According to a report by Anadolu Agency citing 'high-level sources,' the government's priority is not a hostage exchange, but the destruction of Hamas.

Prime Minister Netanyahu is being accused by the Israeli and international public of not making a hostage exchange deal for political reasons.

High-level figures in the Netanyahu government, including Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, argue that the hostages should not be Israel's primary priority and that destroying Hamas is more important.

Some relatives of hostages, who claim they have been attacked by Netanyahu supporters on social media, have also stated that they have been physically assaulted during demonstrations where they called on the government to secure the release of the hostages.