Hundreds of Israelis gathered at Habima Square in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening to demand an end to the war with Iran. Police moved to disperse the unauthorized demonstration within fifteen minutes of its start, citing concerns for public safety. Several protesters were lightly injured in scuffles with security forces. [1]

"We forgot to be human," one demonstrator told CGTN at a similar rally earlier in the week. The protest movement, which began in the war's first days, has grown in size but remains legally constrained — Israeli authorities have declined to authorize anti-war gatherings since the conflict began. Saturday's rally was the largest since police shut down a March 8 demonstration after far-right agitators confronted the crowd. [2]

The protests reflect a fracture in Israeli public opinion that domestic media has underreported. Polls show a majority of Israelis support the operation against Iran's nuclear program, but a significant minority — concentrated in Tel Aviv and Haifa — opposes the open-ended escalation that has followed. The Houthi attacks on Friday and Saturday, which triggered air raid sirens across central Israel, may widen that gap.

Haaretz reported that Jerusalem also saw smaller confrontations between anti-war demonstrators and police on Saturday. The pattern — unauthorized protests, rapid dispersals, injuries documented on social media — has repeated weekly since March 8.

Protest organizers said they would return next Saturday regardless of whether permits are granted. The question is not whether Israelis oppose the war. Some clearly do. The question is whether the state will allow them to say so in public.

-- YOSEF STERN, Jerusalem