The count on the Aug. 26 Tel Aviv demonstration was over 300,000; other gatherings took place elsewhere in Israel. Demonstrators showed up at the U.S. Consulate, and at the homes of cabinet ministers. Route 1 between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and the Route 2 Coastal Highway were both blocked, with tires set on fire.
This followed demonstrations two days earlier, on Aug. 24, where, just in Tel Aviv, some 500,000 turned out, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. Such turnouts, in numbers, would be proportional to 11 million and 18 million turning out in the United States. The demand is to accept the deal that Hamas had agreed to last week, save the remaining hostages, and stop the fighting. As the Israeli Prime Minister convened a security cabinet meeting on Aug. 26, protesters were gathered outside.
