Some 300 people who lost family members in the Hamas terror onslaught on October 7 and the subsequent war have drafted a petition calling for elections at the earliest possible date.
Three hundred and ten family members of October 7 victims initiated the petition, which they called “October 7 families call for elections” and which states that “only an elected government with a broad mandate will be able to set us on a new path.”
In a short explanation attached to the petition, the families said that the call for elections to be held as soon as possible is not “a matter of left or right, religious or secular, but rather a matter of values.”
“Israel needs restoration, Israel needs to embark on a path of construction,” the families said. “Only an elected government with a broad mandate will be able to set us on a new path.”
Yael Alon, whose son Lt. Dor Sade, 22, was killed battling Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, told Ynet that her motivation stemmed from a realization that Israel had not learned the lessons of the Yom Kippur War, which claimed the life of her father half a century before.
When Alon received the news of her son’s death, she was standing in the same house that her mother had been standing in when she received news of her husband’s death, she said.
“It seems as if we have learned nothing,” she said. “Whoever is at the head of the country is responsible. This failure could also have been prevented. This government and its leader need to be replaced. Those who failed cannot fix it.”
“I have paid my price,” Alon continued. “I go out to protest so that other families will not pay the price. I know what it is to be an orphan.”
On the morning of October 7, thousands of Hamas-led terrorists poured into Israel from the Gaza Strip, launching assaults on more than 20 communities in southern Israel.
Some 1,200 people were slaughtered, including 360 people at an outdoor music festival, another 253 were taken captive and dragged to Gaza, and thousands were injured.
In response, Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas from the Palestinian enclave and launched an aerial campaign and ground operation, over the course of which 220 IDF soldiers and reservists have been killed.
In the wake of the October 7 onslaught, the single deadliest attack in Israel’s history, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s popularity has fallen dramatically, as has the popularity of his Likud party.
In contrast, war cabinet minister Benny Gantz’s National Unity Party has soared in electoral polls, after his decision to temporarily enter the government as a wartime measure was met with an overwhelmingly positive response.
A poll published on January 22 found that if elections were held now, Gantz’s party would be the largest in the government with 37 seats, up from its current 12.
In contrast, Likud would receive just 16 seats, half of its current 32, if it remains led by Netanyahu. Furthermore, just 33% of respondents said that they believe Netanyahu’s war-related decisions stem from a desire to act for the good of the country, while 53% said they believe his decisions are motived by personal interest.
A similar poll published on January 12 found that while 51% of people believe Gantz to be the right choice for prime minister, just 28% still believe Netanyahu to be fit for the job.
While the events of October 7 put a temporary pause on the anti-government protests that took place each week for the majority of 2023, they have seen a resurgence in recent weeks, returning to Tel Aviv alongside the newer protest movement calling for the return of the hostages still held in Gaza.
While the anti-government protests and the protests by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum are two distinct movements, there is overlap between the two as many share the belief that the government failed to protect its citizens on October 7.
On January 8, some relatives of hostages still held captive in Gaza were among protesters forcibly dispersed by police for staging a protest outside of the Knesset calling for the government to resign.
Yael Alon, whose son Dor Sade was killed in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, says events before and after Hamas onslaught show Israel never learned from errors of Yom Kippur War
LINK: https://www.timesofisrael.com/hundreds-of-family-members-of-oct-7-victims-launch-petition-calling-for-elections/
