Hostage’s mom to be allowed back into Knesset, but must avoid ‘breaking the rules’ — Ohana

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana announces that Einav Zangauker, a hostage’s mother who has been barred from the parliament building for over a week, will be granted renewed access, but adds that “breaking the rules” may result in another ban.

Zangauker, an outspoken critic of the government over its failure to bring her son Matan Zangauker home after 15 months of captivity in Gaza, has been barred from entering the Knesset over what the Knesset Guard has described as her disruption of discussions.

Ohana says he met Zangauker for a “good meeting” this morning, explaining that she wasn’t targeted for her anti-government activism.

In a statement, Ohana says the Knesset has shown immense flexibility regarding relatives of hostages and avoided imposing sanctions on them for behavior that “normally earns an extended ban from the Knesset.”

“This doesn’t mean there aren’t red lines, and these were sometimes crossed,” he says. “Only after repeated warnings were the violators banned.”

“We cannot judge a person until we stand in their shoes, and we aren’t. Barring access… is meant to guarantee the Knesset’s procedural rules… are upheld, so that the Knesset can continue to fulfill its role as the legislative branch and monitor the government,” Ohana says.

“If [Zangauker] wants to continue sharing her thoughts, she can do so here at the Knesset as well, as she has done since the start of the war, without breaking the rules.”