Israeli signers of petitions against Netanyahu jump to 140,000

According to Middle East Monitor, the movement, coordinated through the website Restored Israel, reflects growing frustration over the government’s military strategy and its failure to secure the release of captives.

In the past 24 hours alone, over 10,000 new signatories joined the campaign. As of early Saturday, the total number of signatures had reached 138,434, up from 128,114 on Friday. The number is expected to continue rising.

Despite warnings from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, more active and former military personnel are joining the initiative.

Netanyahu had previously threatened to dismiss soldiers who speak out against the war or publicly support petitions aimed at halting the conflict.

While the majority of signatories are civilians – 127,255, according to the latest data – 11,179 military figures have also signed.

Among the civilian signatories are 73,599 Israeli citizens, 1,500 parents of active-duty soldiers, and 1,300 relatives of soldiers killed in combat.

Meanwhile, a former commander of the Israeli Air Force and reserve general announced his dismissal from reserve military service, citing his signing of a petition calling for a halt to the war in the Gaza Strip to secure the release of Israeli prisoners.

Israel’s Channel 12 reported, quoting reserve general Nimrod Shafir, the former Air Force commander, that he was sacked for signing the petition.

In response to the Israeli cabinet’s decision to dismiss him, Shafir stated: “We in the Air Force were trained to be at the forefront, to think independently and critically—this is not a mistake. Our goal was to influence the course of the war in Gaza.”

The petition, signed on April 10 by reserve and retired Israeli Air Force officers, marked the first public demand from military personnel directed at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet, calling for the release of Israeli prisoners from Gaza, even if it required halting the war.

Subsequently, similar petitions emerged from other sectors of the Israeli military, including reserve forces and former police officers, with civilians also joining the movement.

Netanyahu, who is under investigation by the International Court of Justice, and some of his ministers have threatened to remove from military service those who signed these petitions. They argue that these military personnel are “strengthening enemies during wartime.” Netanyahu and some ministers have described these soldiers as “rebellious” and “disobedient.”