Israeli president calls for removal of extremists from Netanyahu’s cabinet over Gaza war

The Israeli president, pressed by protesters who confronted him for not taking measures to return captives held in Gaza, called for the removal of minister Itamar Ben-Gvir from prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet.

According to reports by Israeli media, in an unprecedented confrontation with anti-regime demonstrators that occurred on Saturday outside of the President’s Residence in al-Quds, Isaac Herzog said that “Kahanism needs to be removed” from the cabinet.

Herzog responded to protesters who shouted, “You’re the president of a Kahanist” cabinet. “You have to jump up and down about it.”

The reference was to Ben-Gvir and other far-right ministers including finance minister Bezalel Smotrich who are generally tied to a fascist Zionist ideology based on the views of Rabbi Meir Kahane, and his eponymous ideology, Kahanism.

They generally hold a view that Arabs living in Israel are the enemies of Jews and Israel itself.

Ben-Gvir and Smotrich have been harshly criticized for opposing an agreement that includes the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli captives and their persistence in prolonging Israel’s months-long genocidal war in the besieged Gaza Strip, where more than 40,000 Palestinians are killed.

Anti-regime Israeli protesters believe that Netanyahu and his cabinet are not doing enough to reach a ceasefire deal with the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas to return Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held illegally in Israeli detention centers.   

A video of the incident posted to social media showed the protesters gathered outside Herzog's residence constantly interrupting and speaking over the Israeli president as he tried to outline the Israeli regime’s plans regarding the ongoing war in Gaza.

Herzog, an extremist himself, suggested at a press conference on October 13, 2023, that Palestinians in Gaza were legitimate targets.

Two months later, a photo circulated widely on social media showed Herzog writing the phrase “I rely on you” on a shell destined to be fired on the besieged Palestinian territory.

Later on Saturday, thousands rallied across Tel Aviv, Haifa, and other locations across the occupied territories to denounce the Israeli prime minister for obstructing a truce deal aimed at enabling the return of the captives held in the Gaza Strip.

1000s rally across occupied territories blasting Netanyahu for blocking truce deal

Thousands rally across the occupied Palestinian territories, denouncing the Israeli prime minister for obstructing a truce deal aimed at enabling the return of the captives held in Gaza.

The protesters warned that the deal had to be reached within a week, and threatened to ramp up their demonstrations in the event it did not materialize.

“This is probably the last chance to make a deal,” said a demonstrator in Haifa.

Israel unleashed its relentless war on Gaza after Operation al-Aqsa Storm, a retaliatory operation staged by the Gaza-based resistance groups in reprisal for the regime’s decades-long crimes against Palestinians.

The surprise foray left some 1,200 Israelis dead and 250 others in captivity, among whom more than 60 were killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza.

Hamas has repeatedly said it would release the remaining captives in exchange for a complete cessation of Israeli aggression and the regime’s full withdrawal from the narrow Strip.

It has also conditioned their release on the return of the displaced people, an end to the siege that Tel Aviv has imposed on Gaza.

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