From Coalition lawmaker Gafni accuses Labor’s Lazimi of abandoning the hostages
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni accuses Labor MK Naama Lazimi — a prominent advocate for a hostage deal — of abandoning the captives held in Gaza, after the two engage in a heated shouting match in the Knesset Finance Committee.
At one stage, Lazimi says that the blood of those abducted by Hamas “is on [Gafni’s] hands.”
“Shut up already,” Gafni, the committee chairman, screams back, prompting opposition MKs to remind him of his own history of incendiary rhetoric, specifically when he called then-prime minister Naftali Bennett a “murderer” from the Knesset rostrum in 2021.
חברת הכנסת נעמה לזימי תקפה את יו"ר ועדת הכספים משה גפני על כך שהוא נותן יד להפקרת החטופים, הוא השיב: "תסתמי כבר".@DaphnaLiel pic.twitter.com/fXGKb4O7eW
— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) September 11, 2024
“The redemption of captives, the sanctity of life and Jewish ethics should be Gafni’s task and not the incessant preoccupation with covering debts for his networks and huge budgets for associates,” Lazimi later tweets.
Gafni’s United Torah Judaism party recently threatened to boycott discussions about the state budget until the issue of funds for private Haredi education is resolved.
However, the party’s MKs did in the end to approve the first reading of a bill on Monday, and on Tuesday, Calcalist reported that the UTJ-affiliated Independent Education school network would receive NIS 50 million ($13.2 million) to cover its tax debts.
Responding to Lazimi, Gafni accuses her of treating the Finance Committee like Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street, the site of numerous anti-government protests.
Gafni claims that Lazimi shouts during hearings, distributes footage to the press “and leaves without staying for the intense discussions themselves,” adding that “the issue of the hostages is not a political issue and if there is anyone who is abandoning the hostages it is her.”
Lazimi has been active in advocating for the hostages, participating in a march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to draw attention to the issue and attending numerous protests calling for a deal to secure their release — on at least one occasion blocking a road — as well as aiding those arrested at demonstrations.
Earlier this month, the liberal lawmaker was lightly injured by a police stun grenade at a Tel Aviv demonstration.
While Gafni has reportedly expressed support for a deal “at any price,” his party does not appear to have used its leverage in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline coalition to advance an agreement in the same way that it has on other issues.
