The number of Israelis who signed petitions demanding the return of captives from Gaza even at the cost of halting the war climbed to nearly 140,000 as of Saturday, according to the campaign, which is gaining momentum across Israeli society.
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.
According to the platform, the number of petitions available for public signature rose from 47 on Friday to 50 by Saturday, including 21 launched by former or reserve members of the Israeli military.
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.
– Many military, ex-military signatories
The campaign has also attracted widespread support across society, including teachers, academics, doctors, artists, lawyers, and tech professionals.
Among military reservists and retirees, paratroopers are the largest group to sign the petitions, with 2,151 signatures, followed by 1,700 former members of the Armored Corps, 1,600 from the military intelligence’s Unit 8200, 791 from special forces, 612 from the artillery division, 553 from the elite Golani Brigade, and 312 from the naval commando unit Shayetet 13.
Several prominent former military leaders have also signed the petitions, including former Prime Minister and Chief of General Staff Ehud Barak, former Chief of Staff Dan Halutz, former Southern Command head Amram Mitzna, former Central Command head Avi Mizrahi, and former military intelligence chief Amos Malka.
On Friday, Israeli media reported that the government had begun taking disciplinary action against military doctors who had signed the petitions.
The move follows Netanyahu’s recent claim that the signatories are engaging in insubordination with the support of foreign-funded organizations aiming to topple his government, which has been in power since late 2022.
Israel currently believes that 24 of the 59 remaining hostages in Gaza are still alive. At the same time, more than 9,500 Palestinians are imprisoned in Israeli jails, with numerous reports of torture, starvation, and medical neglect leading to the deaths of detainees.
An initial ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel, brokered by Egypt and Qatar with American backing, began on Jan. 19 and was violated by Israel in mid March.
More than 51,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.