MKs lash Lapid for Shabbat press conference

Finance Minister Yair Lapid drew fierce criticism from both secular and Orthodox Knesset members on Saturday night for desecrating the official day of rest, after Lapid held a press conference on Saturday outside of his home.

Zahava Gal-on of the left-wing Meretz party said the finance minister’s decision to call what she said was a largely unnecessary conference was “a demonstration of insensitivity.”

“I’m not even talking about the unfairness to Shabbat-observant reporters when he calls a press conference for a futile statement, or his inconsideration for reporters who don’t have a car, and have no way to get to Lapid’s neighborhood during the weekend without wasting extra money on a cab,” Gal-on wrote in a Facebook post.

The press conference lasted “a minute and a half” and the statement was subsequently posted to his Facebook page, she wrote, making their presence at the conference further unneeded.

Lapid had issued a brief statement on Israel’s S&P credit rating, which he noted “represented a significant vote of confidence” for the Israeli economy.

In her statement Saturday, Gal-on added that the brief statement “managed to ruin Shabbat for the journalists and photographers” who were present “instead of playing with their children, going to the beach, or just resting.” Gal-on insisted that the conference was held on Saturday as part of Lapid’s efforts to get an edge on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, since the Prime Minister’s Office doesn’t issue statements during Shabbat.

Shas MK Aryeh Deri wrote on Saturday night, after Shabbat had ended at sundown, that in a “rare” occurrence, he found himself concurring with Gal-on.

“The disrespect Lapid has shown for the fundamental Jewish values of the State of Israel, which honors the Shabbat as its official day of rest, is entirely unacceptable,” Deri said, adding that the matter presented at the conference was not pressing.

“It cannot be that a minister in the Israeli government openly tramples on these values,” Deri added.

Lapid’s conference was also castigated by Jewish Home MKs Eli Ben Dahan, the deputy religious affairs minister, and Shuli Moalem.

Ben Dahan said the finance minister displayed “a disconnect from the fundamental values of the State of Israel.” Moalem added that while Yair Lapid has the right to do whatever he wants on the Sabbath in his home, “the Sabbath is a sacred day for the Jewish people for generations; even for those who don’t observe the Sabbath, it is a day of rest.”

Lapid’s press conference was held on the backdrop of a fierce debate between the Finance Ministry, Defense Ministry, and prime minister on the 2015 budget. On Saturday, the two sides were said to be nearing a resolution, and Netanyahu and Lapid were set to meet one-on-one on Sunday with the goal of finalizing the budget proposal, which is likely to include an additional NIS 6 billion (some $1.7 billion) in defense spending.