Lapid apologizes for Shabbat press conference

Finance Minister Yair Lapid apologized for a holding a press conference outside his home on a Shabbat last month.

Lapid, the chairman of Yesh Atid, opened Sunday’s party meeting by addressing the backlash he received from Knesset members for desecrating the Shabbat.

“I was wrong, I should not have caused other people to work on Shabbat,” Lapid admitted during a meeting that reviewed the 2015 state budget that has kept him at odds with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent months.

Lapid, who convened the brief Saturday press conference to issue a brief statement on Israel’s S&P credit rating, was sharply criticized for his insensitivity by Knesset members from across the political spectrum.

Zahava Gal-on of the left-wing Meretz party said the finance minister’s decision to call what she said was a largely unnecessary conference was “a demonstration of insensitivity.”

“I’m not even talking about the unfairness to Shabbat-observant reporters when he calls a press conference for a futile statement, or his inconsideration for reporters who don’t have a car, and have no way to get to Lapid’s neighborhood during the weekend without wasting extra money on a cab,” Gal-on wrote in a Facebook post.

Gal-on insisted that the conference was held on Saturday as part of Lapid’s efforts to get an edge on Netanyahu, since the Prime Minister’s Office doesn’t issue statements during Shabbat.

Shas MK Aryeh Deri wrote late that Saturday, after Shabbat had ended at nightfall, that in a “rare” occurrence, he found himself concurring with Gal-on.

“The disrespect Lapid has shown for the fundamental Jewish values of the State of Israel, which honors the Shabbat as its official day of rest, is entirely unacceptable,” Deri said, adding that the matter presented at the conference was not pressing.