Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett came under fire Thursday after his wife and children flew abroad just days after the Israeli leader urged citizens to avoid international travel because of the new coronavirus variant.
Gilat Bennett and her children took off Wednesday on a personal visit, triggering a storm of criticism against the prime minister for not following his own guidelines. According to a Channel 12 News report, the Prime Minister’s Office tried to convince Bennett’s wife to cancel the trip – unsuccessfully.
Bennett was attacked by political allies and rivals alike and everyday Israelis itching to return to normalcy.
“This is what happens when political lies become normal…such chutzpah,” said Likud MK Yisrael Katz.
Their trip comes after Israel tightened travel restrictions in light of the omicron variant. Israel closed its border to foreign visitors and barred travel to much of Africa but Israelis are still allowed to fly to other countries and must quarantine when they return.
The episode drew comparisons to incidents at the beginning of the pandemic, when former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli President Reuven Rivlin spent the Passover holiday with members of their family who lived outside their residence, even as they urged Israelis to celebrate away from their relatives. That sparked an outcry and raised questions about the public’s trust in leaders at a time of a major crisis.
Israelis took to social media to berate the prime minister on his social media pages, questioning his leadership.
“Send regards to the family abroad while we are all languishing here with the restrictions,” a user named Anna Gechtman wrote.
In a Facebook post Wednesday answering questions about the new variant, Bennett was asked about his family’s trip and said they were not violating the new travel rules. He said they were expected to fly to a country that subsequently was banned to travel for Israelis and then changed their destination. He also said more had been revealed about where the virus has spread since his decision to limit travel.
“I understand the criticism,” Bennett wrote. “Everyone is leaving while following the restrictions and will of course quarantine as is required.”
Katz responded to Bennett’s update by saying: “Bennett’s explanation…is worse than the act. ‘Since Friday we learned more about the variant.’ So why didn’t you update the public and change the recommendation not to travel? No credibility.”
Bennett on Friday announced the tightened measures in a press conference on Friday. He counseled Israelis not to bother booking holidays because he expected more countries to be added to the no-travel list.
“If you ask me, I don’t recommend flying abroad right now with such a level of uncertainty,” he said.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem & AP)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
One Response
typical he is allowed to do everything he wants. He always was critiseizing Netanjahu,but he does what ever he wants.He is a real liar and should never have been prime minister. But as Yamina(smola) he chaps his benkel and im sure he will fall.