Demonstrators spark outrage with pita bread protest outside home of minister on Passover

Anti-government demonstrators spark outrage when they form a sign made of pita bread outside the home of Environment Minister Idit Silman. The incident comes on the festival of Passover, when it is forbidden for observant Jews to eat leavened bread.

The demonstrators spell out the word “one pita a day,” with the pitas, a reference to the meagre rations that hostages reported receiving in Gaza.

Silman helped bring down the government of former prime minister Naftali Bennett, when she resigned as an MK, citing in part the issue of leavened goods, or hametz, in public spaces during the Passover holiday.

She later joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party where she was rewarded with a post of minister.

Silman slams the demonstrators, calling them scum.

“Passover. A street where most people are religious and traditional. These scum come to scatter pitas on the street,” she posts on X with a picture of the offending protest.

“It’s not for the sake of the hostages. It’s not for democracy. It’s not even for politics,” she says. “It’s just because they are disgusting types, who have no basic human values. No concern for others, no respect for Judaism, and no civility. Absolute nothings.”

Other ministers also condemn the incident.

“The despicable display by provocateurs the home of Minister Idit Silman deserves to be denounced and and condemned by all national leaders,” says Interior Minister Moshe Arbel of the Shas party.

“It does not represent the families of the hostages. It is a provocation that wastes food, desecrates the sanctity of Passover, and does not inspire any solidarity. The entire nation despises you,” he says.