Leaders of northern communities threaten to secede from Israel on Independence Day

“From now on, we will stop listening to the government; we will run as an independent country and act independently without a state.”

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Northern Israel community leaders are declaring a “secession” from the State of Israel on Independence Day.

As 80,000 Israelis are still displaced from their homes with no information about when they can expect to return, frustration among northern residents is growing, with some leaders seeking to break away from the State of Israel altogether.

Moshe Davidovitch, head of the Mateh Asher Regional Council and chair of the Confrontation Line Forum declared, “The soul of the public in the north has been torn apart by the lack of action.”

He added, “From now on, we will stop listening to the government; we will run as an independent country and act independently without a state.”

Remarks from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sparked the succession movement.

Netanyahu responded to a question about whether northern residents can return to their homes in time for school to begin on September 1st by saying, “What’s the worst that will happen if they return a few months after September 1?”

In response, the Confrontation Line Forum said they intended to create the State of Galilee as a self-governing body and to sever ties with Israel permanently.

“We won’t say exactly what we’ll do because we decided to create a surprise,” Davidovitch said.

“We don’t know if we’ll succeed in making this dysfunctional government wake up, but we’ll certainly create a meaningful wave of impact.”

Hezbollah began firing missiles at northern communities in Israel shortly after the Hamas invasion and massacre on October 7th.

Since then, the IDF has been retaliating against Hezbollah missiles and destroying terrorist infrastructure.

Although there have been threats of escalation on the northern border, the conflict has fallen short of a full-blown war. However, the security situation in the North has prevented the return of evacuees to their homes.

In addition to the secession declaration, evacuees from the north have demanded the Israeli government say “no” to a political agreement with Hezbollah and have called for the restoration of security through military pressure on the terror group.

“This is a battle that we must fight together,” wrote the organizers, “a fight for our freedom, our honor, and the future of our children. We, the people of the north, will not be silent.”