The Tikvah Forum, representing the families of several hostages, sent a letter to Police Commissioner Daniel Levi demanding action against road blockages and disturbances that "endanger the stability of the state and hinder the return of the hostages."
"In recent months we have witnessed a wave of protests and demonstrations that disrupt the life of the country, cause road closures, harm public order, and paralyze state institutions. Unfortunately, anarchistic elements exploit the families' pain to advance political agendas whose aim is to topple the government, not recovering the hostages. They mislead some of the families and use their distress for foreign purposes," the forum said.
They added, "These actions strengthen Hamas, which benefits from the chaos in Israel, and are encouraged by it to continue holding our loved ones in captivity. Our hostages need a stable government and a functioning state, not anarchy."
The families told the commissioner, "Failure to enforce the law is tantamount to taking a position that sympathizes with disturbances, with silence equating to consent and encouragement for continued disturbances; that is how we see it. In addition, and based on past cases, in the absence of police enforcement to ensure freedom of movement, confrontations may develop between blocked drivers and the lawbreakers who are blocking traffic."
"We call on you to decisively exercise all your powers as commissioner: immediately disperse road blockages, prevent disturbances, and prosecute those who act to disrupt the life of the country. Anyone who paralyzes the country is, in effect, acting against the hostages. The State of Israel needs stability to return the hostages. We expect immediate and clear action from you," they concluded.