Tension between parliamentarians and families of prisoners in Israel

The fact that far-right parliamentarians of the Israeli government had a verbal argument with the relatives of Israelis held captive in Gaza during the Parliament session became a hot topic in the country.

A session was held in Parliament’s National Security Committee to discuss the bill proposing “the death penalty for terrorists” in Israel. Israel’s Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is frequently on the agenda with his racist and far-right views, and parliamentarians Limor Son Har-Melech, Almog Cohen and Zvika Fogel, as well as representatives of the relatives of Israeli prisoners held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip attended the session.

In images shared from the parliamentary session, it was seen that there was a verbal exchange between far-right parliamentarians and relatives of Israeli prisoners during the heated session.

Families of Israeli prisoners called on lawmakers to stop the bill to impose the “death penalty on terrorists,” saying a law passed in its current form could endanger their relatives currently held hostage. in Gaza.

Gil Dikman, whose cousin is held captive in Gaza, addressed far-right minister Ben-Gvir and said: “I begged him not to take advantage of our pain. “This law will be counterproductive when the lives of our loved ones are in danger and the sword is on their necks,” he said.

Ben-Gvir, for his part, did not back down on the bill and stated that the bill presented by his party, on the contrary, “encourages the return” of the captives.

‘YOU HAVE KILLED ENOUGH’

The father of an Israeli prisoner claimed that the far-right deputies, partners in power, wanted to pass this bill just “to kill Arabs” and said: “You have already killed enough. “Stop talking about killing Arabs, start talk about saving the Jews,” he said.

Israeli MP Almog Cohen, who was seen banging the table from time to time, told one of the captives’ relatives: “Pain is not your monopoly.” According to Israeli media, Almog Cohen left the session shortly after the discussion.

On the other hand, the opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid reacted against the far-right deputies of the coalition for the words they used against the relatives of the captives. In his statement on the social media platform X, Lapid criticized the coalition government and the deputies present at the session with the following statements:

“The families of those kidnapped cry for their own pain and the pain of the entire country. There is no limit to the clumsiness and shamelessness of negligent coalition members who moralize families. Almog Cohen’s actions today will be remembered forever. He should be ashamed of himself.”

In Israel, where the death penalty does not exist, far-right coalition parties want people affiliated with Hamas to be tried for terrorism crimes and sentenced to the death penalty. (AA)