Not-so-united anti-war movement in Israel shows Gaza differences

In the past few months, Israel’s anti-war movement has grown from a fringe array of activists to encompass a powerful opposition bloc challenging the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Following the resumption of Israel’s bloody assault on Gaza, hundreds of Israeli peace activists have been marching, including at the Gaza border, to demand an end to the war, holding signs reading “Palestinian lives matter” alongside the pictures of the dead of Gaza.

They have been joined by a wide section of the political mainstream who believe the new Israeli offensive – named Gideon’s Chariots – is putting the lives of the remaining Israeli captives held in Gaza in danger and that mass civilian casualties are isolating Israel from its Western allies with at least 50,000 Palestinians killed and the enclave moments away from a catostrophic famine.

 “In the last few months, something has shifted… a significant anti-war movement is emerging,” Shaiel Ben-Ephraim, an Israeli academic, told The New Arab.

“There was an initiative to stand with pictures of babies slaughtered in Gaza. A dozen activists or so showed up. Now hundreds do.”

A movement with deep divisions 

Ben-Ephraim initially supported the war on Gaza, seeing it as necessary to remove Hamas from power following the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel, but his position changed as it progressed, with Netanyahu stalling negotiations on a ceasefire that could see the release of Israeli captives, a common criticism among the Israeli mainstream. 

“Over time, it became clear that the strategy was not to pursue either, but rather to put off hostage deals that could end the war and avoid taking over all of Gaza and destroying Hamas,” he said.

Recently, Ben-Ephraim said Israel is committing genocide in the enclave, something already well-established by human rights groups and UN experts.

“For me, the slaughter of the paramedics in Rafah and the admission from [Israeli military] sources to me that they were intentionally destroying all sources of clean water were a breaking point,” he said.

Following his genocide accusation, Ben-Ephraim was the subject of a campaign seeking to bar him from entering Israel by the far-right Betar movement.

As a left-wing Zionist, Ben-Ephraim understands that while many in the expanded protest movement are united in wanting an end to the war, there are also huge differences in motivations for this and views on an endgame in Gaza.

“We [the left] care deeply about Palestinian civilians, while they [the mainstream liberal-centre] focus mostly on the hostages,” he said.

Mairav Zonszien, Senior Israel Analyst at the International Crisis Group, said that many in the mainstream so-called anti-war movement – including anti-judicial reform protesters, the families of captives, Israeli reservists, and politicians – are driven by a desire to see the release of the Israeli captives and their opposition to Netanyahu.

“Yeah, it might be, by default, an anti-war movement because that’s the means to get the hostages out, but it’s definitely not an anti-war movement,” she told The New Arab.

“They’re protesting to release all the hostages, that’s the slogan that they’re rallying around. They really don’t care that 50,000 Palestinians have been killed.”

The political leaders who are critical of Netanyahu, such as Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz, lack a political vision for what happens after the war ends and have refused to support a peace process that would be essential to prevent flare-ups in the future. Meanwhile, left-wing leader Yair Golan is struggling to make the case for a two-state solution, something that most analysts see as an impossible task in the current political climate in Israel.

“I don’t think anyone’s really seeking a two-state solution, to be perfectly honest, I just don’t think that’s something on the cards. Nobody’s talking about it,” Zonszein said.

May Pundak, co-director of Israeli-Palestinian peace organisation ‘A Land for All’ – which advocates for a two-state confederation – told The New Arab that in the three decades after the signing of the Oslo Accords, Netanyahu has normalised Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territories at home, extinguishing any hopes for a two-state solution.

A Land for All has received pushback within Israel about the prospect of a two-state solution following the 7 October attacks, but Pundak believes it is essential to provide a distinct political vision that would lay the foundation for an end to the conflict.

Protesters hold a banner calling for an end to the war and release of Israeli captives in Tel Aviv, Israel [Yael Guisky Abas/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images]

“No one has been giving that to them [Israelis] in a very long time, except for the government camp, who have a very developed political imagination of the Third Temple and have all the names of new settlements in Gaza… and Lebanon,” she told The New Arab.

Pundak said she is trying to convince the Israeli mainstream that “October 7 needs to be the beginning of the end”, even if the trauma of the experience leaves many unwilling to listen, but sees it as essential to end the cycle of violence

“I’m not going to only convince Israelis to save the Palestinian people, although that should be obvious, but I need to convince the Israeli public that we’re here to save ourselves, and that’s both the hostages, but also our children,” she added.

“October 7 is what you get when you don’t solve the conflict, and if we don’t take this historic moment and end the conflict, not only end the war… we will just see more iterations of this bloodshed.”

A ‘marginal’ peace movement

While mainstream protests increase, the pro-peace protests from Palestinian citizens and Jewish Israelis have been subject to a harsh government crackdown from the war’s outset.

“On 18 October 2023, there was a statement made by the [former] High Commissioner of the police [Kobi Shabtai] that was published on TikTok where he said that any Palestinian [in Israel] who wants to express their solidarity with Gaza will be sent in buses to Gaza,” Hadeel Abu Salih, an attorney with legal centre Adalah, told The New Arab.

The day after, protests in Haifa and the Palestinian town of Umm al-Fahm were forcibly shut down by the police, who have continued to severely restrict any genuine anti-war activity.

“After the demonstrations in October, Palestinians didn’t hold any demonstrations until May 2024,” she added.

Police have targeted Palestinians in the anti-war movement, in particular, with Adalah representing over 80 people arrested in the repression, mostly detained on grounds of disturbing public order for attending demonstrations.

“The operation by the police has had a chilling effect, where people stopped demonstrating, especially Palestinians,” Abu Salih said.

“In most demonstrations, we see that they are being led by Israeli Jewish anti-war activists and not Palestinians, because they would be arrested and held for more days in detention, or there would be more violence in the demonstrations by the police.”

Israel’s far-right has also embarked on counter-demonstrations, including blocking the entry of aid to Gaza, alongside defamation campaigns targeting anti-war activists.

In late April, far-right activists stormed a Reform synagogue in Beit Samueli that hosted a joint Israeli Palestinian memorial ceremony.

Sami Abou Shehadeh, the leader of the Palestinian-majority political party Balad, who himself was arrested by the police at the start of the assault on Gaza, told The New Arab that police repression means it was difficult to launch a fully fledged anti-war movement.

“Each time it grows a little, activists, leaders, also people who are not that involved in politics, are arrested, and the Israeli police bring us to the starting point again.”

During an anti-war protest at the Gaza border by peace group ‘Standing Together’ on 18 May, Israeli police arrested nine activists, including the group’s co-director Alon-Lee Green.

Shehadeh said that the small Jewish Israeli anti-war activist community who work with the party face being ostracised. 

“There are great activists, Jewish activists, that are supporting our struggle, but their number is so small and marginal… we are talking [about] less than one percent of the total community. This is nothing,” he said.

A protester raises a placard that says “Stop Gaza Genocide” amid a crowd in Tel Aviv, Israel [ITAI RON/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images]

“We know, because of their support of peace and justice, they are paying a very high social price.

“They are being boycotted by their families, it is also not easy for them.”

Shehadeh said the worsening situation in Gaza means it is vital to continue anti-war activity, despite the repression against both the Palestinian community and Israeli Jewish activists, and for real efforts to be made to highlight the need for justice for Palestinians.

“Our duty as peace activists in the current situation is to keep hope that a better future could be built with our common activity as activists, Arab Palestinians and Israelis that believe in peace, justice, and equality for all,” he said.