From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, April 21, 2026
Golan blasts lavish Hasidic fundraising event held on Memorial Day eve
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"
The Democrats chairman Yair Golan issues a scathing condemnation after the Mothers at the Front protest group shares a video showing what appears to be the Gur Hasidic movement holding a lavish event on Memorial Day eve in the central Israeli city of Ness Ziona.
“They don’t enlist. [in the army] They don’t share the burden. And they don’t are about those who enlisted, fought and fell to protect them as well,” tweets Golan. “This contempt for mutual responsibility and the foundations of the state must end. We will put a stop to this celebration built on the backs of those who serve and at the expense of the entire public.”
The gathering, described by the Mothers at the Front as a fundraising event, was focused on selling homes to young Hasidic couples, according to an Instagram post by the Walla news site. “It’s time to say it clearly and loudly: Whoever doesn’t wear a uniform, whoever doesn’t honor the memory of the fallen, and whoever chooses to celebrate while the entire country weeps has no place in the leadership of the state,” the group declares.
אתמול בזמן שהלב שלנו נדם בצפירה הם חגגו על שולחנות ערוכים.
הטקס האלטרנטיבי של חסידות גור – על הקירות כתוב יזכור אבל אין קשר לזכר הנופלים. באמת קשה למצוא את המילים כדי לתאר את עומק הזעזוע ממה שקרה אתמול בנס ציונה.
בערב הכי קדוש וכואב לחברה הישראלית, בערב יום הזיכרון, התקיים… pic.twitter.com/8EBKUB7Q1V— אימהות בחזית (@IBahazit) April 21, 2026
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