Thousands rally in Jerusalem as Israeli Opposition Leader decries ‘illegitimate’ Netanyahu government

Yair Lapid joins demonstrators in Jerusalem calling for the dismantling of the Netanyahu’s “illegitimate” government.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Jerusalem Wednesday, with hundreds marching on the Knesset after Opposition Leader air Lapid denounced the Netanyahu government as “illegitimate” and urged Israelis ‘take to the streets” to topple the ruling coalition.

On Tuesday, Lapid said at a press conference that he had lost confidence in the government, citing, among other things, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to dismiss Shin Bet internal security chief Ronen Bar.

“Netanyahu said this week about Ronen Bar that it is impossible to wage war in a state of distrust,” Lapid said Tuesday.

“This is what an overwhelming majority of Israeli citizens now feel towards Netanyahu: a deep distrust of the one who is returning Israel to fighting while transferring a shameful evasion budget and billions to people who refuse to serve.”

A day later, Lapid, who briefly served as a caretaker prime minister in 2022, issued a public call, urging all Israeli citizens not currently on active duty in the military to protest the Netanyahu government.

Calling Israel’s current government “illegitimate,” Lapid accused the ruling coalition of dividing Israelis. “Come to Jerusalem. This government is tearing us apart, breaking us apart. It is an illegitimate government. Take to the streets!”

“We took to the streets because this is an illegitimate government. That silence in the face of a destructive government is not unity. Silence only gives them more time to tear us apart,” he declared.

“This government does not stop at red lights. The only solution is unity, but not silent unity, not surrendering unity, and not fake unity, but unity of an entire people that comes together and says: Enough!

“I call on all of you – this is our moment, this is our future, this is our country. Take to the streets.”

As head of the Shin Bet, Bar has faced calls for his resignation since the security failures on the eve of the October 7th invasion, including his agency’s alleged mishandling of information ahead of the attacks indicating an imminent invasion.

Netanyahu’s critics, however, have taken aim at the planned firing of Bar as well as at the government’s steps towards removing Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara.

Demonstrators cited both at Wednesday’s protest, while Lapid said the rally would demand the formation of a state inquiry into the October 7th invasion, the immediate mass drafting of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students, and the halting of the judicial reform plan.

Lapid specifically took aim at a bill approved by a Knesset committee Wednesday that would strengthen the position of the government on the Judicial Selection Committee.

The Opposition leader denounced the bill as “extreme” and “violent.”

“The wording of the law passed today by the Constitution Committee to change the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee is not a compromise, not a correction, and was not reached through dialogue,” he said. “It is the most extreme, most violent, and most rotten wording there is.”