Massive protests in Tel Aviv against Benjamin Netanyahu

Participants waved Israeli flags and many held banners with slogans such as “Minister of Crime” and “Stop the War.”

Such protests are held every Saturday in Israel’s largest city to protest the government’s handling of the Gaza war, which broke out nine months ago.

Saturday’s rally was the largest yet, with about 150,000 people attending, according to Hofshi Israel, the group that organized the protest.

“I came here because I’m worried about the future of my grandchildren. If we don’t get out of this mess and get rid of this horrible government, they have no future,” said Shai Erel, a 66-year-old contractor.

Some protesters lay on the ground covered in red paint in Democracy Square, denouncing what they see as the “death of democracy” under Netanyahu’s government.

Shin Bet Yuval Diskin, the former head of Israel’s internal security agency, called Netanyahu the “worst prime minister” in Israeli history in a speech.

Many protesters accuse the ruling coalition of conservatives, nationalists and ultra-Orthodox Jews of prolonging the war in Gaza and endangering the country’s security and hostages.

Hamas Islamist militants have killed 1,194 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped 251 in southern Israel since the war broke out on October 7, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

The Israeli military estimates that 116 people remain detained in Gaza, of whom 41 are reported dead.

In response, Israel launched an offensive that has killed at least 37,551 people, mostly civilians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.