Israeli Knesset holds final session before recess until Independence Day

Israel’s parliament (Knesset) on Wednesday held its final plenum session before beginning its annual spring recess, which starts officially on Sunday and is scheduled to continue until May 19.

In recent days, Knesset members from the opposition and family members of Israelis being held captive in Gaza criticized the fact that parliament was recessing despite the ongoing war and amidst a broad uptick in protests against the government and in favor of a hostage deal.

During the plenum session, protesters smeared yellow paint on a window that divides the visitor’s balcony from the main hall.

The Knesset could convene during the recess under certain circumstances and is likely to do so, but the governing coalition refused requests by the opposition to completely cancel the break. For a government to fall, the Knesset needs to convene and vote to disperse itself, and opposition MKs accused the coalition of refusing to cancel the recess to block the option of bringing down the government at least until May.

The plenum session, which continued past press time on Wednesday night, convened after stormy protests on Tuesday evening in Jerusalem that included a torch thrown at a member of the police cavalry, the breaching of police barriers near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence on Azza Street, and police using force against protesters, including Ayala Metzger, the daughter-in-law of hostage Yoram Metzger.

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana said he “could not ignore last night’s events, which add to the growing incitement that characterized the days before October 7 and threatened to tear us apart.”

Other ministers and coalition members condemned the protesters on Tuesday night and Wednesday, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who called the protests “anarchist violence”; National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, in charge of the police, who accused Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar of failing to protect the prime minister, who was not present at his home at the time of the protests; and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, who claimed that Netanyahu’s life could have been endangered. The Israel Police later said there was no physical threat presented to the prime minister.

Perhaps in response to Ben-Gvir’s criticism, Bar issued an unusual comment late Tuesday evening, stating that “the violent discourse on social media and some of the scenes witnessed last night in Jerusalem depart from accepted norms of protest, undermine the ability to maintain public order, and may lead to violent clashes with security forces, which can hinder them from fulfilling their duties and even pose a threat to securing individuals. There is a clear line between legitimate protest and violent and illegal protest. This troubling trend could take us to a dangerous path that must be avoided.”

Benny Gantz criticizes protesters and MKs alike

On Wednesday night, National Unity chairman and Minister-without-Portfolio Benny Gantz, while calling for protests to remain within the limits of the law, criticized government ministers and coalition MKs for their harsh comments.

“We must not be insensitive to families of hostages, and it would have been right to agree to their request to cancel the Knesset recess,” said Gantz. “I want to address the families of hostages and tell them that I bow my head at the fact that we have not yet been able to bring them home. I am ashamed when I hear the treatment by part of the public and public officials towards them.”

Gantz called on Netanyahu to speak out on behalf of the hostage families and make sure they are treated appropriately: “They deserve to know that the Israeli public is not against them but behind them. The families must know that we are doing everything, day and night, so that their loved ones will come home.”

"They deserve to know that the Israeli public is not against them, but behind them, the families must know that we are doing everything, day and night, so that their loved ones will come home."

Gantz stressed, however, that “especially now, with all the difficulties, we must make an effort to maintain our unity. We should not put our disagreements aside, but rather make sure we manage them in a way that allows us to keep fighting together. What is happening in the halls of government, online, and in the streets is dangerous, and most stop.”

United Right Party chairman Gideon Sa’ar had joined the government after the war broke out. Recently, however, he left it and rejoined the opposition. He, too, criticized the protesters, calling them “an enormous asset for Netanyahu,” adding that the protesters’ actions “do not serve and are not helpful to any purpose.”

"The protests last night are an enormous asset for Netanyahu," Sa'ar said, adding that the protestors' actions "do not serve and are not helpful to any purpose."

Gantz wrote on X earlier on Wednesday that “national unity is the key to our future” and that “violence from any side is unacceptable.”

“Protest is legitimate. The pain is also understandable, but the law and the rules of the game must be maintained. We are brothers, one people, in one of its most difficult moments. We cannot go back to October 6,” Gantz said, referring to the mass protests across the country before the Hamas massacre. Another member of Gantz’s party, Minister-without-Portfolio Chili Tropper, made similar comments.

Labor chair Merav Michaeli attacked Tropper for his criticism of the protesters, arguing that the National Unity Party was enabling Netanyahu’s government to survive even when the prime minister “prolongs the war and delays the return of the hostages.

“So instead of tutting, go to your war cabinet, and make Netanyahu bring our hostages home,” Michaeli said.

Fellow Labor Party MK Naama Lazimi was removed from the Knesset during Wednesday’s plenum session after pulling out a poster with the slogan, “You are the head, you are guilty,” directed at Netanyahu. The gesture was notable, as reports emerged on Wednesday that the Israel Police was considering opening a criminal investigation into her actions at a protest on Saturday night, during which a major road in Tel Aviv was blocked and bonfires were lit on the road.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said that he “called on the protesters to follow the law and called on police to protect the protesters. These are the families of hostages that you abandoned, who became hostages in the Hamas tunnels on your watch,” Lapid said, directing his comments to the government.

Talik Goeli, the mother of police officer Ran Goeli, whose body is being held in Gaza, said, “My child used to guard these demonstrations and said that they spat on his face. Now they are spitting on his face once more.” She said the demonstrators had gone too far and were not helping the hostages and their families.

Despite the numerous reactions from public figures condemning Tuesday night’s protest as unacceptably violent, it is not clear whether it was, in fact, very violent on the part of protesters. There was one notable incident in which a flaming torch was thrown and landed on a mounted police officer, but it was quickly condemned by protest movements that reminded protesters and the public that they were against violence. Also, the throwing of the torch was carried out by one protester out of the many thousands that were on the streets last night.

Many touched on the fact that protesters breached the barricades surrounding Netanyahu’s home, but such an occurrence is fairly regular during large protests. Barricades are generally placed hundreds of meters from the prime minister’s residence during protests, and protesters regularly attempt to get around them, often succeeding. It appears that barricades were moved last night, and protesters managed to evade the police simply by using side streets that were not blocked.