'We are crazy radicals': Israel's anti-war protesters struggle against ruling consensus Submitted by Jared Hillel on Wed, 03/18/2026 - 12:21 Israel's political and media class back the war on Iran, with the public following suit Protesters hold placards during a Stop The War demonstration, amid the US-Israel war on Iran, in central Tel Aviv, Israel, 7 March 2026 (Dylan Martinez/Reuters) Off On Saturday night, as the war on Iran entered its third week, a small group of Israelis assembled in central Jerusalem.  “One, two, three four, we don’t want your fucking war,” chanted protesters, some dressed in orange jumpsuits and donning masks bearing the face of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  Earlier that day, a protest with similar aims had been held in Tel Aviv. Neither demonstration gathered more than a hundred people.  One of the protesters was Lawrence Shenkin, a 23-year-old Orthodox Jew. “My God does not want the state, that claims to be in his name, to be waging wars and consistently killing thousands of people,” he told Middle East Eye.  Despite a civilian death toll that continues to mount, both domestically and across the Middle East, Shenkin knows his opinion places him in the minority.  As it stands, 15 people have died in Israel, including nine on the second day after a direct strike on a building in Beit Shemesh, just west of Jerusalem. These figures pale in comparison to the carnage unleashed by Israel in both Iran and Lebanon, where thousands are dead and millions displaced. Despite the rising casualties, calling for an end to the violence is a fringe position in Israel.  “We are viewed as crazy radicals,” says Mitan, a 46-year-old woman who attended the protest in Tel Aviv earlier that day, before making her way north to Jerusalem. “Trump and Bibi [Netanyahu] dragged us into another pointless war. They try to keep us quiet but we can't sit at home anymore.” Israel’s anti war-coalition  While there is an elite consens