The Times of Israel is liveblogging Sunday’s events as they unfold.
Finance minister demands attorney general seek injunctions to block labor strike
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 22, 2024. (Oren Ben Hakoon/ Flash90/ File)
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich demands that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara seek immediate injunctions to prevent tomorrow’s general strike in the labor market.
In a letter to Baharav-Miara, he says the strike “is clearly political and lacks any legal basis.”
The strike was “declared to wrongly influence issues that are clearly at the diplomatic level… on matters pertaining to national security. These matters are at the heart of the jurisdiction of the political echelon and are not subject to strikes of workers’ unions.”
He notes there was no advance warning given regarding the strike plans, adds that the move was taken without labor leaders being privy to the full national security picture before decision-makers, and warns that it could set a dangerous precedent.”
Hostage’s brother performs Jewish mourning ritual for six slain hostages at rally
Danny Elgarat, hostage Itzik Elgarat’s brother, performed the Jewish mourning ritual for the six slain hostages at the Tel Aviv rally, tearing his shirt open and crying, “Blessed is the true Judge” six times.
He accuses Aryeh Deri, leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, of reneging on his religious duties by partaking in the “death cabinet” that has failed to bring the hostages home.
As some protesters clash with police after the protest ends, cops are prepared with trucks and mounted officers to intercept the protesters, some of whom climb the trucks to great applause.
“Where were you in Sde Teiman,” the protesters yell, referring to police’s failure to arrest members of a rightwing mob that stormed the southern detention facility on July 29, after several soldiers were arrested there for allegedly abusing a Palestinian inmate.
Lebanese Forces party chief denounces Hezbollah for fight with Israel
The head of the Christian political party Lebanese Forces accuses Hezbollah of dragging the country into a war with Israel without consulting the people.
In a speech attacking the Islamist group, Samir Geagea, who heads the main Christian bloc in parliament, accuses Hezbollah of “confiscating the Lebanese people’s decision on war and peace, as if there were no state.”
Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October, Hezbollah has engaged in near daily cross-border fire with Israel in support of its Palestinian ally, which the Lebanese Forces and other parties oppose.
The clashes are “a war that the Lebanese people reject, but has been imposed on them,” Geagea says in a speech to supporters in northern Beirut.
“It is a war that the Lebanese people do not want and over which the government has had no say. This war does not serve Lebanon, it has brought nothing to Gaza, nor alleviated its suffering one iota,” he adds.
Protesters block Ayalon Highway, light bonfires on road
The Ayalon South highway is filled with protesters demanding a hostage deal, September 1, 2024. (sha_b_p@)
With the main demonstration in Tel Aviv over, many protesters have descended on the Ayalon Highway to block traffic.
Cars are at a standstill as protesters mill around them.
In several locations, demonstrators light bonfires on the road.
Protesters on the Ayalon Highway demanding a hostage deal, September 1, 2024. (Naomi Lanzkron)
Hostage’s mom: Every day is Netanyahu’s Russian roulette. He’ll play until they’re all dead
Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, at a protest near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem, July 13, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90/ File)
At the Tel Aviv rally, Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, said: “Nadav is alive. My son is still alive. But every day is a Russian roulette.” Netanyahu, she said, will play it “until they’re all dead, [but] we won’t let him.” She said the six murdered hostages died “on the altar of Philadelphi [Corridor] spin,” referring to the Gaza-Egypt border, where the premier has insisted Israel must retain control.
The six could have been saved, and the rest of the hostages can still be saved, she said.
To the newly bereaved families, Zangauker said: “You are not alone. The people of Israel embrace you. The blood of your loved ones won’t be in vain. We’ll do everything to get all the hostages home.”
She said Netanyahu has “put the hostages to the guillotine… He’s the hangman of Gaza Street.” (Netanyahu’s home is located in Jerusalem’s Aza (or Gaza) Street.)
“The history books will not have sufficient space to record the magnitude” of the disaster Netanyahu has wrought, she added. “Your time is up,” she said. “I, Einav Zangauker, a Likudnik from Ofakim, tell you it’s over.”
She concluded: “This is the time to act. To shake the nation until there is a deal. Go to the streets, people of Israel. Go to the streets!”
Histadrut chief at Tel Aviv rally: ‘Entire country will stand still tomorrow’
Histadrut labor federation chief Arnon Bar-David speaks before large crowds of Israelis calling for an urgent deal to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, outside the Ministry of Defense headquarters in Tel Aviv, September 1, 2024. (Gili Yaari / Flash90)
At the Tel Aviv demonstration, Histadrut chief Arnon Bar-David announces, “The entire country will stand still tomorrow,” including the Dan and Egged bus lines, ports and municipalities.
He calls on the private sector to join in the strike to bring back the hostages.
He says, “The key word here is abandonment” of the hostages, as well as the country’s south, north, and the “unbelievable abandonment of the economy,” while “coalition funds are funneled to unnecessary government offices.”
Bar-David says he had promised hostage families to use his power to shut down the economy “when the time comes.”
“That time is now,” he says.
“It is unacceptable that our children die in tunnels because of political interests,” he declares. “I refuse to be indifferent to the fact that our state would abandon [the hostages].”
The public, he says, “should take to the streets. Cry out: Enough!”
He is met with cheers, and some boos. “Where were you until now?” some cry.
Hundreds gather at Jerusalem community center, home to Goldberg-Polins’ synagogue
Candles are lit at the September 1, 2024, vigil for Hersh Goldberg-Polin in Jerusalem. (Gianluca Pacchiani/ Times of Israel)
Hundreds of people gather in the courtyard of the local community center in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Baka, home to Hakhel, the Goldberg-Polins’ synagogue, in a vigil for the community’s son, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, killed in captivity in Gaza.
Men, women, and children, religious and secular, quietly stand shoulder to shoulder at the vigil, some swaying to the familiar afternoon and evening prayers.
The crowd includes former Knesset member Rachel Azaria and Jerusalem deputy mayor Yosi Havilio. There are Goldberg-Polin’s friends from the Jerusalem Brigade, the fan club of the Hapoel Jerusalem basketball team, and many wear the familiar red shirts printed with the black-and-white visage of Hersh.
A table set at the front of the outdoor space is crowded with memorial candles, lit in Hersh’s memory. The chain link fence behind the table is hung with banners bearing Hersh’s face, with red-and-black scarves worn by Hapoel Jerusalem fans, tied around links in the fence.
Those leading the prayers lead the crowd of mourners through soft renditions of “Avinu Malkenu,” the Jewish prayer of repentance, along with liturgical prayers and songs of mourning, prayers for the soldiers and the remaining hostages, finishing with Hatikva, Israel’s anthem.
Jerusalemites will stand with Israeli flags to accompany the car carrying the family to the cemetery on Monday afternoon.
Gaming company Playtika says it will join national strike
Israeli gaming company Playtika says it will join the national strike called by the Histadrut Labor Federation to help push for a deal to release the remaining hostages held in Gaza.
“The news in the last 24 hours is heartbreaking,” Playtika says in a statement. “For 331 days, we have been active and committed to the fight to bring all the hostages home.
“Tomorrow, too, we will stand together with the families and join the general strike. We call for the immediate release of the 101 hostages!” the statement reads.
US Democrats urge Israel-Hamas ceasefire after murdered hostages recovered
Senator Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, leads a hearing about the rise in threats toward elected leaders and election workers, at the Capitol in Washington, August 3, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Several US Democratic lawmakers renew calls for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire, in reaction to the killing of six hostages in a tunnel under Gaza, while Republicans criticize President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for not giving stronger support to Israel.
Democratic Senator Dick Durbin says in a post on X that he is “heartbroken and devastated” by the news of American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s death, echoing sentiments of other US officials and lawmakers.
“A ceasefire must be reached immediately that allows all remaining hostages to be released, humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza, and an elusive and neglected long-term vision for peace and stability to become a reality,” says Durbin, the second-ranking Senate Democrat.
Republican lawmakers are not urging for a stronger push for ceasefire negotiations, with some blaming the Biden-Harris administration for not supporting Israel strongly enough.
“They continue to encourage and embolden Hamas,” with calls for a ceasefire, says Republican Senator Tom Cotton.
Asked what Netanyahu’s government should do in the face of growing protests in Israel, Cotton says: “I would urge him to finish the job against Hamas, which is exactly what Kamala Harris and Joe Biden should have done from the very beginning.”
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