Anti-government demonstrations erupted in Tel Aviv and Haifa on Saturday night in response to the Qatargate affair.
In Tel Aviv, protesters gathered at Habima Square, calling for further investigations into the scandal involving the Prime Minister's Office.
At Habima Square, speakers included former police commissioner Lt. Col. Roni Alsheich, who addressed cabinet members, saying they "bear legal responsibility, even if the prime minister does not want to share it."
"In June 2017, moderate Arab countries declared Qatar a state sponsor of terrorism and severed their diplomatic relations with it. That was a golden opportunity to take advantage of this and stop the Qatari antisemitism campaign in the US and abroad," Alsheich said. "But Israel acted contrary to its own interests and managed to whitewash Qatar in the eyes of the US and turned it into a Hamas sponsor."
Former IDF chief of staff Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Gadi Eisenkot said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "must be investigated in the Qatargate affair. The Likud's pathetic attempt during Shabbat to try to distance Netanyahu from one of these serious affairs is yet another sign of disdain for the public that clearly sees the truth."
"Alongside the activities of his advisors with the Qataris, there is the unequivocal fact that the Prime Minister has known since May 2019 that $4 million of the Qatari money is no longer going to civilians, but to the military wing of Hamas. He ignored it and did not prevent it. We all deserve to understand - why didn't he prevent the continued transfer of the money?"
Another speaker at Habima Square was Merav Svirsky, whose parents, Orit and Rafi, were murdered in Kibbutz Be'eri during the October 7 massacre, and whose brother, Itai, was kidnapped and murdered after 99 days in Hamas captivity.
Itai Svirsky's remains were recovered by the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) in December 2024.
"The price of the government's betrayal is that I lost my parents and brothers," Merav Svirsky said. "The revelations about the most treasonous case in the history of the country are mind-boggling. About how foreign interests infiltrated the Prime Minister's Office during and before the war. About how the interests of an enemy state influenced the decision-making process here that cost us so many human lives, including my parents and my brother."
Demonstrators in Tel Aviv were marching towards Savidor Central station and on Ibn Gvirol Street, with some carrying signs saying: "Israel is not for sale."
"How is it possible that the Prime Minister, who supports his employees who betrayed the country, is still in office?"
Protests further north in Israel
Demonstrations in Haifa took place in the rain at the Horev intersection. The organizers of the event "Haifa People's Protest" claim that the Haifa police tried to prevent the protest from taking place at the last minute.
"Haifa police, we will tell you what we tell everyone: The protest is here until the government of the October 7 massacre leaves our lives," the organizers said. "You will not silence us."
Hodaya Ran and Yoav Itiel contributed to this report.