End war now: Signers on petitions in Israel exceed 120,000

JERUSALEM / ANKARA

More than 120,000 people in Israel have signed 43 petitions demanding an end to the war on Gaza and a prisoner exchange, according to the “Restart Israel” website.

The platform allows Israelis to review and sign petitions electronically. As of Thursday, 120,522 people had signed calls urging the return of hostages and an immediate end to the war.

Sixteen of the petitions were signed by over 10,000 members of the military, including veterans, reservists, and soldiers from multiple brigades, elite units, and intelligence branches.

The remaining 27 petitions and letters were signed by civilian professionals, including academics, writers, poets, artists, engineers, and other professionals.

Notable figures among the signees include former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, former Chief of Staff Dan Halutz, four former navy commanders—Ami Ayalon, Yedidia Yaari, Alex Tal, and Dudu Ben-Besht—and three ex-leaders of Flotilla 13: Ran Galinka, Uzi Livant, and Tzvika Erez.

Two former artillery commanders, Avraham Bar David and Doron Kadmiel, also signed, along with other senior military figures such as Amram Mitzna, Avi Mizrahi, Amos Malka, Amnon Reshef, Moshe Sukenik, Nimrod Sheffer, and Ilan Biran.

The petitions uniformly call for the release of 59 Israeli hostages held in Gaza, 24 of whom are believed to be alive, and for a ceasefire.

On Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the military signatories of insubordination and threatened to dismiss them. He claimed foreign-funded groups were backing the effort to bring down his coalition, which took office in late 2022.

He described the petitioners as “a small, noisy, anarchistic, and disconnected group of pensioners” and said anyone inciting disobedience would be expelled.

The petition movement followed the collapse of the first phase of a ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange deal, which began on Jan. 19 with Qatari and Egyptian mediation and US support. While Hamas complied with the terms, Netanyahu, under pressure from his far-right coalition, refused to move to phase two. Israel resumed military operations on March 18.

The second year of genocide in Gaza has seen more than 51,000 Palestinians killed since October 2023, the majority of them women and children.

In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its actions in the enclave.