Thousands of people have taken to the streets in Israel this morning to call on the government to make a deal with Hamas for the release of the hostages abducted on October 7. In the plaza outside the Tel Aviv Museum, which has become known as “Hostages Square”, demonstrators displayed a giant national flag with pictures of the hostages. Hamas is still holding 50 hostages, twenty of them believed to be alive.
Many main roads around Israel have been closed to traffic. The Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) decided not to call a general strike, but many firms and businesses are closed, or have allowed their employees to join the demonstrations on behalf of the hostages’ families, among them giant food company Tnuva. Technology companies and major law firms are among those leading the strike action.
In a meeting with representatives of the hostages families and senior businesspeople last week, Histadrut chairperson Arnon Bar-David said that the Histadrut would not join the strike, on the grounds that this would divert public discourse on rescuing the hostages in a political direction. “If I knew that a strike, not just for one day but for longer, would end the matter… I would go for it with full force,” Bar-David said after the meeting. “Unfortunately, and despite the fact that the heart is bursting with rage, it’s useless.” Nevertheless, Bar-David called on businesses to allow employees to take part in the strike without penalty.
Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich posted on his X account this morning: “Israel awakes this morning to a bad and damaging campaign that plays into the hands of Hamas, buries the hostages in the tunnels, and attempts to make the State of Israel surrender to its enemies.”
A statement on behalf of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said, “Every means has been exhausted. The imperviousness of the government and the hard-heartedness of it head and its ministers oblige us to intensify the struggle and to do everything to bring back our loved ones. They are steadily deteriorating, and unless we bring them back now, we will lose them forever. For 22 months, we have have been crying out for a comprehensive agreement, but our calls have fallen on deaf ears and a hard heart. We are fed up with slogans and evasions. For the hostages, time has run out. Only the people will bring the hostages back home.”
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on August 17, 2025.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2025.
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