Minister says Gamliel should be fined, not fired for breaking rules, lying

5 October 2020, 2:32 pm

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Likud minister Tzachi Hanegbi is pushing back against suggestions that Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel should be fired, following a report that she broke lockdown rules and lied about it after contracting the virus.

“This is not a criminal offense, but the breaking of guidelines. We have mechanisms set up, fines for instance. That’s the way to act,” he tells Army Radio.

Several commentators and opposition figures have urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fire Gamliel following a report that she traveled to Tiberias for Yom Kippur and prayed inside a synagogue. After contracting the virus, she initially refused to answer questions from contact tracers and later lied about getting it from her driver, according to Haaretz.