During a wreath-laying ceremony for Holocaust Remembrance Day on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was heckled by a protester who called on the leader to resign.
Video posted online by The Times of Israel shows a man yelling out at Netanyahu to resign moments before he places a wreath down during the ceremony at Yad Vashem, Israel’s largest Holocaust memorial.
On October 7, 2023, militants in the Palestinian organization Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking over 200 hostages. Israel subsequently launched a war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip that has killed over 34,000 people, the Associated Press reported, citing the Gaza Health Ministry.
The Times of Israel said the heckler at Yad Vashem blamed Netanyahu for not protecting his country’s people and also mentioned the hostages still being held by Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem on Monday. He was heckled by a protester who told him to resign.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem on Monday. He was heckled by a protester who told him to resign.
Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images
“We must not descend into the abyss again. What else is necessary for you to go home?” the man yelled at Netanyahu, according to The Times of Israel’s translation.
The online newspaper also said the man referenced the hostages by saying, “Let the people of Israel remember their abandoned sons.”
Newsweek reached out to the Israeli government’s press office via email on Monday for comment.
Israel’s N12 news channel posted a clip on X (formerly Twitter) of the moment Netanyahu was heckled.
— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) May 6, 2024
Netanyahu has faced scrutiny and criticism from many Israeli citizens for not being able to negotiate a release of all the hostages from Gaza. A poll conducted last month by the Israel Democracy Institute found that 62 percent of Israelis believe government officials who are “responsible for the failure of October 7” should resign. This opinion was shared by 58 percent of Jewish respondents to the survey, as well as by 81 percent of Arab respondents.
During remarks made on Sunday evening for the Holocaust Remembrance Day opening ceremony at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, Netanyahu pledged to bring all the hostages home from Gaza.
After saying that Hamas had the same “intention” as the Nazis during the Holocaust, the prime minister said: “We are determined to release them all—all of them—from this dark inferno, those who are still alive and the dead.”
He went on: “We are obligated to bring them home, to their families, and end this ongoing nightmare. Our hearts are with them.”
Netanyahu then vowed to “fight the monsters of Hamas and destroy them for good.”
The heckling incident at Yad Vashem came hours before Hamas announced it had agreed to a ceasefire proposal mediated by Qatar and Egypt. Israeli officials have yet to issue an official reaction to that news, but reports in Israeli media suggested that the government had not signed off on the proposed ceasefire.
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Jon Jackson is an Associate Editor at Newsweek based in New York. His focus is on reporting on the Ukraine and Russia war. Jon previously worked at The Week, the River Journal, Den of Geek and Maxim. He graduated Summa Cum Laude with honors in journalism and mass communication from New York University. Languages: English.
Jon Jackson is an Associate Editor at Newsweek based in New York. His focus is on reporting on the Ukraine …
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