As Gaza descends deeper into rubble, with tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians dead as a result of genocide committed by Israel, another fire rages within Israel. While the world watches war unfold across borders, a democratic rebellion is erupting in Israeli streets. From Tel Aviv to Haifa, protesters are calling not only for an end to the war, but for the end of Benjamin Netanyahu’s reign.
A popular movement to oust Netanyahu
The protests that once centered around the safe return of hostages have transformed into a nationwide uprising. Demonstrations now target Netanyahu’s rule itself, demanding his resignation and a reversal of judicial reforms that protesters claim amount to a coup from within.
Hostage families have increasingly joined nationwide demonstrations, expressing frustration at the government’s handling of negotiations and accusing Prime Minister Netanyahu of prioritizing political survival over bringing captives home. Protesters in recent Tel Aviv and Jerusalem rallies have called for new elections and a ceasefire, according to reports from Reuters and other international outlets.
The judicial coup
At the heart of the rebellion is Netanyahu’s effort to seize the judiciary. The overhaul, which strips the Supreme Court of its ability to check government power, has been condemned by legal scholars and civil rights groups as the death knell for Israeli democracy. The Prime Minister Netanyahu is accused of trying to escape conviction in his corruption trials by reshaping the legal system.
Netanyahu’s ambitions, however, stretch further. Analysts say he is building a legacy rooted not in statesmanship but in divine destiny. By cultivating a messianic image, as the one man who can protect Jews from enemies within and without, Netanyahu has weaponized religion, fear, and war to cast himself as Israel’s irreplaceable savior.
Coalition crisis and Knesset revolt
His government is fracturing. Ultra-Orthodox coalition partners refuse universal conscription, while secular centrists demand a ceasefire and elections. In May, the opposition filed a motion to dissolve the Knesset, citing moral and political paralysis.
Israeli leaders speak out
Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, according to The New Yorker, has called Netanyahu’s war policy “indiscriminate killing of civilians,” and warned of moral collapse under his leadership.
“What we are doing in Gaza now is a war of devastation: indiscriminate, limitless, cruel, and criminal killing of civilians. We’re not doing this due to loss of control in any specific sector, not due to some disproportionate outburst by some soldiers in some unit. Rather, it’s the result of government policy—knowingly, evilly, maliciously, irresponsibly dictated. Yes, Israel is committing war crimes.”
— Ehud Olmert, Former Prime Minister of Israel.
Retired general Yair Golan stated, “This is not defense. It is destruction,” accusing Netanyahu of turning the IDF into a tool for political survival. He further said, according to Associated Press, “A sane country doesn’t engage in fighting against civilians, doesn’t kill babies as a hobby, and doesn’t set for itself the goals of expelling a population.”
Civil society’s historic defiance
Over 1,200 Israeli academics signed a letter denouncing the Gaza operation as a campaign of extermination by siege and starvation. In Tel Aviv, Israeli women display images of dead Palestinian children, breaking decades of silence on state violence.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, once seen as apolitical, now demands Netanyahu’s immediate resignation, wrote Haaretz.
War crimes and genocide claims
The International Court of Justice and UN special rapporteurs cite mass civilian deaths, starvation, and displacement in Gaza as evidence of genocide. Netanyahu’s refusal to end the war, despite growing isolation, is seen by critics as an effort to maintain chaos as cover.
Netanyahu’s myth collapses
For decades, Netanyahu presented himself as a Churchillian defender of the Jewish people. That illusion is crumbling. A May 2025 Wall Street Journal poll shows 70% of Israelis now support a ceasefire and hostage deal.
Reservists and intelligence officers refuse to serve. Former Mossad chiefs speak out. Streets once filled with patriotism now overflow with rebellion.
A story western media refuses to tell
While the Western media fixates on rockets and tunnels, they ignore the revolution brewing inside Israel. This is no longer just an anti-war protest. It is a mass awakening. It is the Israeli people versus the Netanyahu regime.
They are not just calling for peace. They are demanding liberation from war, from corruption, and from a man who believes he alone was chosen to rule.
And they are not whispering. They are roaring.
