Sharon Basch is an Israeli American who lived in Israel before starting her JD at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she is currently a 3L. 

Thousands of Israelis took to the streets across Israel on Sunday to protest following the recent recovery of the bodies of six hostages from tunnels in Rafah. They had been held in Gaza since October 7th. Among the six hostages, one, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, was an American citizen. Two were women, leaving 10 Israeli women still as hostages inside Gaza. All six were found with close-range bullet wounds to the back of their heads, indicating that they had been executed.

Frustrated with the ongoing war aimed in part at rescuing the hostages, the street protests focused on Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s inability to strike a deal to return them. A recurring slogan has been “deal or abandonment,” i.e. the assertion that failing to negotiate a deal to release the hostages is tantamount to abandoning them altogether.

Protesters (and many Israeli citizens, whether they were marching in the streets or not) feel that Bibi’s actions over the past 11 months have done very little, perhaps even nothing, to actually secure the hostages. This has been a massive matter of contention between the current government and the Israeli public, who were already disenchanted with Netanyahu and his cabinet regarding judicial reform for almost a year prior to October 7th. Many feel that Netanyahu is trying to prolong the war – it seems he wants to continue to secure his position as Prime Minister.

The public disillusionment echoes historical precedent; following the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Prime Minister Golda Meir faced public outrage. Despite being cleared of responsibility by an independent commission, she was forced to resign. Netanyahu, who is believed by the Israeli public to have considerably more blame for the ongoing war, knows he might face the same fate.

The retrieval of the executed hostages has refueled internal exasperation with Netanyahu and exacerbated desperation to see family and friends returned. In Israel, and for Jews worldwide, the retrieval of these six bodies has been devastating – many likened it to the anguish felt in the days following the October 7th attacks.

The protests underscore a collective sense of abandonment and desperation, with many Israelis feeling that their government has not done enough to bring their loved ones home. As the nation grapples with the loss and the perceived inadequacies of its leadership, the calls for accountability and effective action have never been more urgent.