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Lapid blames Netanyahu for hostage deaths, calls for general strike

Lapid called on Israelis to gather in Tel Aviv at 7 p.m. on Sunday to demonstrate against the Netanyahu government.

By JNS

Left-wing politicians on Sunday blamed the Israeli government for Hamas’s murder of six hostages whose bodies were recovered from the Gaza Strip, with opposition leader Yair Lapid calling for a general strike to shut down the economy.

“[Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and the ‘death cabinet’ decided not to rescue the abductees,” the Yesh Atid Party head said in video remarks, calling on the Histadrut labor federation, employers and local authorities to “shut down the economy. You can’t go on like this.”

Lapid called on Israelis to gather in Tel Aviv at 7 p.m. on Sunday to demonstrate against the Netanyahu government.

Some restaurants in central Israel were closing at 6 p.m. to protest the absence of a hostages-for-ceasefire-and-terrorists-release deal and to encourage the mass demonstrations.

He also wrote a letter to Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, asking him to convene a special “urgent” session in the plenum as early as Monday on a deal to return the remaining living hostages.

“We have no time to waste. Their deaths could have been avoided. It was possible to reach a deal. There is a majority for such a deal among the people, there is a majority for such a deal in the Knesset,” Lapid said.

The parliament is in recess and gathering lawmakers for a regular session would require the support of 25 MKs, and 40 signatures to compel Netanyahu to attend.

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The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, backed by the Israel Business Forum, earlier on Sunday called for a general strike to protest the lack of a deal to free the hostages.

The Israel Business Forum represents private-sector employees from 200 of the country’s biggest companies.

Meanwhile, Histadrut chairman Arnon Bar-David was set to meet with the families of hostages at the organization’s headquarters in Tel Aviv at 4 p.m.

Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai announced that the city will join the strike on Monday, tweeting that “Eden, Carmel, Hersh, Uri, Almog and Alex should have been at home by now. Alive. The Israeli government abandoned them, but the State of Israel is us.”

He continued, “As a sign of solidarity with the abductees and their families, the municipality of Tel Aviv-Jaffa joins the strike. Tomorrow, starting in the morning and until noon, there will be no public reception and we will allow all female and male employees to go out and support the families’ struggle. Take to the streets.”

Givatayim Mayor Ran Kunik also announced that the city just east of Tel Aviv will go on strike on Monday.

“The Givatayim municipality will go on strike tomorrow; there will be no public reception and dozens of employees with a representation of high school students will leave from the Hostage Forum headquarters,” Kunik tweeted.

“If it is decided to shut down education as well, we will update. I call on my fellow mayors to join. The abductees must be returned immediately. The premise according to which military pressure returns abductees alive has collapsed, and there is nothing to add.”

Rotem Yadlin, head of the Gezer Regional Council in central Israel, also announced a strike on Monday.

“The Gezer Regional Council will strike tomorrow, there will be no public reception and dozens of employees will go to the headquarters of the Hostages Forum to show solidarity with the suffering of the families,” she tweeted.

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“The price of not returning the abducted is too high for us as a people. It’s a complete loss of values. This is not the country where we grew up and where we are raising our children. We have no right to not educate about values ​​and not stand firm for human life and its value. At a time of embarrassment and confusion of values, let’s at least educate ourselves. I call on my fellow mayors and councils to join in.”

Yair Golan, leader of The Democrats, a party formed in July by the merger of the Labor Party and Meretz, called for a strike.

“This is not only our right reserved by law—it is our duty towards the abductees and their families. Strike now!” he tweeted.

He praised the decision of the Givatayim mayor to strike.

“It’s time to step up. This is the time for an effective protest and a general strike of the entire local government. Good luck, Ran,” Golan wrote.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir criticized those who blame the Netanyahu government for the deaths of the captives, saying that only Hamas is responsible for their murders.

In a lengthy tweet, the Otzma Yehudit Party head also emphasized the importance of not making risky concessions to achieve a deal at any cost.

“Unfortunately, I see the disturbing statements from the left, which accuse the Israeli government of murdering the abductees. To be clear: the terrorist organization Hamas, it and only it, murdered the abductees. Those who place the blame on the Israeli government echo Hamas propaganda,” Ben-Gvir tweeted.

“Those who demand the release of thousands of terrorists and to give Hamas control over the Philadelphia Axis [on the Gaza-Egyptian border] are intentionally abandoning the security of Israel’s citizens. The blood of the next to be murdered will be on his hands,” he continued.

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He concluded the tweeted by calling for the return of Jewish communities to Gaza and warning of another Oct. 7-style attack unless Israel’s “conceptzia” (governing security assumptions) change.

“In Gaza too, the price of killing the abductees should be where it hurts them—the conquest of more territory and the establishment of Jewish settlement in Gaza. If we continue to be fooled by the loose left and the prophets of the conceptzia, the next 10/7 is only a matter of time.”

The hostages whose bodies were recovered in an underground tunnel in Rafah in southern Gaza overnight Saturday were identified as Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Almog Sarusi, 25, Alexander Lobanov, 32, Carmel Gat, 40, and Master Sgt. Ori Danino, 25.

Their deaths reduce the number of hostages remaining in Gaza to 101, with many believed to be no longer alive. A total of 251 people were kidnapped during the Hamas-led invasion on Oct. 7.