About 40,000 Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv’s Habima Square Tuesday night to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to return to war in Gaza and oust his top intelligence officer.

Netanyahu recently removed Bar from the negotiating team and replaced him with a loyalist, Cabinet minister Ron Dermer. Israeli media have repeatedly reported on deep policy differences between the negotiators, who have pushed for a hostage deal, and Netanyahu, who continues to threaten to resume the war.