Funeral held for ex-Meretz MK Gilon: ‘He roared with all his might when he saw evil’

Hundreds of mourners turn out for the funeral of former Meretz MK and social justice campaigner Ilan Gilon, the widely respected lawmaker who died on Sunday at 65.

In a speech in front of family, friends, lawmakers and cabinet ministers at the cemetery in the central town Kfar Saba, Gilon was eulogized by his wife, Yehudit, who says the pair met while at school.

“You were a brat in my eyes, and I was a nerd in your eyes. But ours was a love forever. Rushing forward with a burning passion, you were a hopeless romantic,” she says.

“You wrote me poems, we shared thoughts and secrets. And now I am saying goodbye to you,” she says.

“We had a love of 50 years. We knew we wanted a huge family, and today the whole family is here — that’s what Ilan wanted. There are masses of people here and you are everyone’s glue,” she says.

Transportation Minister and Labor head Merav Michaeli says that Gilon did not enter politics because he wanted power, but rather because he wanted to give power to the people.

“Ilan was a compass for me when I entered the Knesset. He was always sharp, clear and ideological — he was not soft. He was the love he gave everywhere, but when he saw evil, he roared with all his might,” Michaeli says.