Posted on 10/06/21
| News Source: Arutz-7
A special session was held in the Knesset Wednesday in memory of Rehavam "Gandhi" Ze'evi, Israel's former Tourism Minister who was assassinated by a Palestinian Arab terrorist 20 years ago.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said: "Gandhi dedicated his life to strengthening the bond between the people of Israel and the Land of Israel. Gandhi was not afraid to fight for his views even if they took him outside the consensus."
"Gandhi was a soldier of the Land of Israel until his last day - a stubborn, tight and uncompromising soldier," Bennett added, "he continued to fight for his opinions, beliefs, his concern for the Land of Israel and its future."
Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu paid tribute to Rahavam Ze'evi and also attacked the government: "Unfortunately, the current government does not fight terrorism. It embodies an abysmal weakness in this and other areas, so it did not respond to rocket fire on Kiryat Shmona and machine gun fire on Sderot. Gandhi would have criticized their failures to deal with the coronavirus and their acceptance of the Iran nuclear deal."
''Gandhi would not accepted a government headed by someone who barely crossed the electoral threshold and is dependent on the Islamic Movement. He would not reconcile with a government that is 180 degrees to the left. His voice is silent, but his cry can still be heard today.
Netanyahu continued: "Gandhi would shout at the rush of ministers to Mahmoud Abbas so that the red would return to his cheeks. Gandhi would protest the discrimination against IDF soldiers who did not receive any increase in their salaries while NIS 53 billion was promised to Ra'am. Ghandi would attacked with a frenzy the coronavirus failures, the harm to farmers, the acceptance of the nuclear agreement being formed with Iran. Gandhi's personal voice is missing, but his cry is heard by the masses of Israel's citizens."
Most MKs were absent from the special meeting in memory of Ze'evi, including MKs from the Yesh Atid, Blue and White, Labor, Meretz, Ra'am factions and the Joint Arab List. The Yesh Atid faction said in response to the absence of its MKs: "Each MK chose at his discretion whether to enter or not. There was no factional decision, and certainly not an instruction from above."