Tens of thousands of left-wing activists are demonstrating Saturday night across the country, demanding early elections.
The main demonstration is being held at Kaplan Junction in Tel Aviv, alongside a rally at the Hostages Square, where former ISA Director Yuval Diskin sharply criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and warned of an existential threat.
"For many weeks I rejected calls to join the protest. Something deep inside me said that the time had not yet come, that perhaps it really wasn’t right to change governments during a war, and that unity was most important now. However, I find myself astonished, each day anew, by the government’s impotence, the failed war management, the lie of absolute victory, the total escape from responsibility, the destruction of strategic relations with the United States, and perhaps above all, the missed opportunities to bring back our kidnapped brothers and sisters from Hamas's captivity," he said.
"However, it turns out that below every low point, there is still another whole flight of stairs," Diskin added. "It turns out that the worst, most failed prime minister in the state’s history has led us over the past decade into a multi-dimensional strategic crisis, both in internal security, regional security, and international domains. The convergence of all these threat dimensions together could bring us to the existential brink in the immediate term."
He added, "We have never had such porous and breached borders, with quantities of illegal weapons within the state’s borders threatening national security, with organized crime and protection rackets all over the state, with entire areas where we have lost governance, and with a weakened and exhausted police force."
"We have never been in a situation of operational readiness throughout Judea and Samaria, and despite everything, on the brink of losing security control, which requires us to carry out repeated raids, targeted air strikes, and additional drastic measures. We have never had such a complete loss of control over the messianic zealots in the West Bank, acting at will under the patronage of Bezalel Smotrich, minister for the State of Judea Affairs, and Itamar Ben-Gvir, minister of national failure, causing uncontrollable deterioration."
He addressed senior Likud officials Yoav Galant, Nir Barkat, Israel Katz, and Avi Dichter, and said to them: "You who were once commanders and soldiers. Will this be your legacy? Will this be your legacy - Yuli Edelstein, chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee? Will this be your legacy - Haim Katz, who controls the Likud plenum? You surely know well that deep surveys indicate that close to 70% of Likud voters oppose the draft evasion law. I call on you to wake up and save the state from destruction."
