Photo: AFP
Hamas killed six of the remaining Israeli hostages over the weekend, prompting a new wave of reactions from the people and the politicians in the beleaguered nation. Thousands of mourners took to the streets Sunday to display their anguish at the funeral of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, while thousands more demonstrated that they are ready to go on strike and shut Israel down if Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t consider a cease-fire to free the remaining hostages. Netanyahu, meanwhile, addressed the nation Sunday night to say Israel will never budge, although he later apologized to the families of the six slain hostages. ABC News correspondent Jordana Miller appeared in Jerusalem on 710 WOR’s Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning program to set the uneasy scene in Israel.
“There was an outpouring of national grief here yesterday at the funeral of Hersh Goldberg-Polin,” Miller told Berman and Riedel. “Hamas executed him and five others in a tunnel, so it’s just painful, the whole country watching the funeral… and then, what was already a difficult day was capped off by a prime-time televised speech by Netanyahu, which, I have to say, only made people feel even more desperate, really, because he basically said he will not move the Israeli army off of the Philadelphia Corridor.”
Miller says the palpable sense of dread may force the Israeli people to do something drastic to get Netanyahu’s attention. “If Netanyahu doesn’t budge on that issue, then it doesn’t look like we’re going to get a cease-fire, so it’s just kind of a very grim mood here in Israel. On the streets, the protests are growing across the country, because people feel that maybe that’s the only thing that will impact Netanyahu, and I think they’re right. I mean, if we see sustained large numbers of Israelis in the streets and the economy, even the private sector, going on strike, it may give Netanyahu pause.”
Photo Credit: Getty Images