ALBAWABA - On Saturday, tensions in Israel rose when protesters met National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on his way to a church in the Kfar Malal settlement.
They said that he had failed to free Israeli prisoners and was responsible for their deaths in Gaza. People are getting more and more angry at the government for how it is handling the war and the hostage talks.
Israeli news sources said that protesters stood in Ben-Gvir's way and chanted anti-Semitic chants while holding up pictures of Israeli prisoners being held in Gaza. Protesters followed him to the area around the synagogue and yelled charges and called his policies a "disgrace."
A video going around showed Ben-Gvir walking with his son while being closely watched by reserve officers. Among the protesters, they were openly criticizing his decision to turn down a prisoner exchange deal and back keeping the Gaza war going.
Ben-Gvir has frequently called for occupying and destroying Gaza and stopping aid from getting to the people who are trapped there.
Reports also say that Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, the Finance Minister, have said they will step down if Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister, agrees to a deal with Hamas to end the fighting and swap prisoners.
As the unrest grew, the families of Israeli prisoners said they would be holding a big protest in Tel Aviv tonight to demand that all prisoners held in Gaza be freed right away.
The families' organizing group called for a lot of people to join the protest, with the slogan "Only the People Can Bring Back All the Hostages."
Earlier today, protests were held outside the homes of President Isaac Herzog and Transportation Minister Miri Regev to put pressure on the government to finish a prisoner swap deal. Outside of Regev's house, protesters held up pictures of the prisoners and read their names out loud.
More people are putting pressure on Netanyahu.
In light of these events, a study released today by the Maariv newspaper found that 62% of Israelis do not trust Netanyahu's government and 72% want to end the war and bring back the prisoners.
The numbers show that there is a growing gap between the Israeli government and the people. More and more people are calling for immediate action to protect the prisoners.
