Oren Ziv reports:

The “March of the Thousands” could hardly be called a demonstration or a protest. Those are actions usually taken in opposition to the government, or demanding something from outside of it. But when several thousand right-wing activists marched to the Gaza fence on Sunday, calling for Israel to re-establish settlements in the Strip, they did so with the participation of almost half of the government and under the auspices of the police — even though the army had declared the area a closed military zone, making it an arrestable offense to enter.

The official reason for the march was to put pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to advance settlement construction in Gaza, which Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich promised in June would happen “as soon as the prime minister gives his approval.” But the event also intended to demonstrate who is in charge, who stands above the law and can get what they want — as they have already done in East Jerusalem and the West Bank — with or without the prime minister.

The marchers, many of whom had been bused in from settlements in the occupied West Bank, began at Zikim Beach just north of the Gaza Strip. A few hundred meters from the beach, military police had erected a checkpoint, and soldiers, with deadpan seriousness, presented the participants with a closed military zone order and tried to force their vehicles to turn back.

But the hordes who had arrived had no intention of giving up: They continued marching and passed from one checkpoint to the next, facing little resistance. As in previous instances, the goal was to reach a gathering point near the Gaza perimeter fence, a place where the general public is usually prohibited from going.

For a moment, it seemed as though the police — who had brought in riot officers and units equipped with sophisticated off-road vehicles, typically used for operations against Palestinian Bedouins in the nearby Naqab (or Negev) — were genuinely trying to repel the protesters. But the final outcome and the presence of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir among the marchers made it clear that this was merely a show, given that he is in charge of the police. [Continue reading…]