In late 2024, as the State of Israel fought an existential war across seven operational fronts, senior leaders within the anti-government protest movement recognized that weekly Saturday night demonstrations in Tel Aviv were failing to produce the political turnover they sought. Consequently, organizers began planning a shift to an unlawful, disruptive phase designed to collapse the government, according to newly obtained recordings.
1+In the recorded strategy conversations, protest organizer Brigadier General (res.) Amir Haskel outlined what he defined as the necessary escalation: placing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official residence under direct siege, deliberately committing criminal offenses, provoking mass arrests, and intentionally driving the country into civil chaos. In plain terms, Haskel argued that the movement had reached the point where violating the law was an operational necessity.
Haskel was not acting alone. The initiative brought together several prominent figures from the Balfour and Kaplan protest movements. The organizers openly declared their objective of imposing a physical siege on the Prime Minister’s residence, with organizer Eli Brock telling attendees that they were effectively resurrecting the pre-state “Palmach” as a dedicated volunteer corps to overthrow Netanyahu. According to the organizers, the siege, coordinated road closures, and widespread defiance of law enforcement were calculated to overwhelm police capacity and shatter the political leadership.
1+Crucially, the recordings expose that attorney Gaby Lasky, a Knesset candidate representing the Democrats party, served as the legal advisor to this initiative. Rather than advising compliance with statutory limits, Lasky counseled the group as it planned disruptive highway shutdowns and illegal demonstrations intended to bypass the democratic process. Moreover, the recordings reveal that Lasky actively encouraged the activists to submit to arrest, framing mass detentions as a tactical catalyst to escalate public disorder and accelerate regime change. Lasky also offered no objection during the planning session when organizers explicitly stated that the siege and protests were intended, among other goals, to terrorize the Prime Minister’s wife.
Ultimately, the broader Israeli public declined to support the radical initiative. Nonetheless, the recordings provide documented evidence that leading protest figures, backed by a prospective lawmaker from the Democrats party, actively conspired in the midst of a multi-front war to spark domestic anarchy and unlawfully overthrow Israel’s elected government.