From the Liveblog of
Saturday, July 6, 2024
Haredi MK slams Netanyahu for issuing non-emergency statement on Shabbat rest day
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. 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"
Senior United Torah Judaism lawmaker Moshe Gafni harshly criticizes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for issuing an official statement during Shabbat in violation of traditional Jewish religious law.
“I condemn the announcement of the Prime Minister’s Office on Friday evening, which did not contain any sign of pikuach nefesh,” he states — referring to the Talmudic principle that preserving human life overrides Shabbat-related prohibitions.
Last night, after the start of Shabbat, Netanyahu’s office released a statement that Mossad chief David Barnea had returned from hostage negotiations in Qatar and that an Israeli negotiating team would be sent for follow-up discussions next week.
The PMO’s statement was “completely unnecessary,” Gafni, the head of UTJ’s Degel Hatorah faction, complains.
It is relatively unusual for officials to publicly engage in non-emergency state business during the weekly Jewish day of rest.
In February, after Netanyahu issued a statement on Israel’s credit rating before the end of Shabbat, UTJ leader and Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf called his behavior “inappropriate,” arguing that “it wasn’t an emergency situation, and it wasn’t a response that could not have been published after the conclusion of Shabbat.”
The Times of Israel Community.