On Monday afternoon, hundreds of Israelis demonstrated at the Gush Etzion Junction, demanding that the government take necessary action in putting a stop to the terror attacks and the mounting number of Israeli orphans and widows of terror victims.

“We really need to solve this problem because we are just adding more orphans and more grieving families to our community list and it is intolerable and unacceptable to us,” said Rivkah Epstein, the organizer of the demonstration, to Tazpit Press Service (TPS).

Epstein, a married mother of five children living in the community of Alon Shvut, which is located in the Gush Etzion region, told TPS that she felt driven to act after hearing of so many terror attacks. “This is a completely individual initiative by a woman who hears sirens every single day and knows that another beautiful precious Jewish soul has been taken away from us and it cannot continue,” she said.

A large number of mothers were noticeably present at the demonstration . “The main idea is that women have a special voice as lovers of life to come forward and demand that our children and our communities are safe,” Epstein explained.

“Ever since the three boys last year were kidnapped, women took it in their hands to pray and form a community of beseechment to the world,” Epstein added.

Epstein also referenced the Jewish Matriarch Rachel, who according to Biblical and Jewish tradition cries out in Heaven when tragedies befall the Jewish people.  “In our tradition, we have the idea that the Jewish Matriarch Rachel (wife of the Patriarch of Jacob) is calling out for her children, so as mothers we feel a special obligation to cry out now,” Epstein said.

“We are asking the government to give us the necessary resources to protect us,” Epstein told TPS. “If we have money for beautiful bridges in the center of Jerusalem and for all sorts of national projects, then this must be on the top of the list because every Jewish life is precious.”

Epstein also conceded that finding a solution to stopping the terror attacks is not so simple. “In Gush Etzion, especially in Alon Shvut where we live, we get along well with our neighbors and there are a lot of beautiful things that go on here, but there are also people full of hate and murderous intent,” Epstein noted.

“We want to have a normal life and we want to get along with our neighbors, but we also want to protect our children,” explained Epstein. “It requires an incredible amount of nuance and serious, high-level thinking, so we are calling for creative out-of-the-box thinking to solve this problem.”

Epstein believes that Israel is capable of finding the necessary solutions. “We are at the helm of every high-tech industry, and we need to use those brains now to solve this problem,” she said.  “I call on our leadership and brilliant minds to solve this problem for us. We need all of our greatest thinkers.”

The location of the demonstration at the Gush Etzion Junction was poignant in that it was also where terror victims were killed very recently, including Ezra Schwartz, an 18-year-old American who was spending a gap year before college at a yeshiva in Israel.

Monday’s demonstration follows Sunday’s protest at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, which also demanded more action from Netanyahu in quelling the terror attacks.