National Unity party leader says extremists are just as dangerous on all sides of the political spectrum after he was heckled and called a traitor at a protest against the dismissal of ISA chief Ronen Bar.
National Union party chairman MK Benny Gantz participated in a demonstration held today (Wednesday) against the possible firing of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, which the coalition is attempting to carry out.
During the demonstration, Gantz was greeted with sympathy by many of the protesters, but at the same time, he was attacked with chants of “traitor” from a handful of people in the crowd.
In a statement he issued after the demonstration, Gantz strongly condemned the hecklers, calling them “barn burners” and claiming that these were people who hate Netanyahu more than they love the country. He emphasized that after he served for decades in the IDF and fought for Israel’s security, these chants were inappropriate.
“These are people who have no shame in calling me [a traitor], who risked my life under fire for the country in uniform for decades, for which I have been fighting in the political arena for six years,” Gantz said.
Gantz compared the calls heard against him to similar calls heard in the past against IDF soldiers by extremist groups and noted that this is a worrying phenomenon that harms the unity of Israeli society.
“In the difficult days we are going through, we must remember – our mission is to unite Israeli society, to preserve democracy, and not to incite and hate,” he wrote.
Despite the hecklers, he emphasized that he intends to continue working for the unity of Israeli society, to preserve democracy, and to fight against extremist elements on all sides.
“This handful of extremists is no less dangerous than the extremists on the other side and I do not intend to surrender to them. I will continue on the path that is right to save our country, precisely from this hatred, precisely from the extremist fringes who are dragging us down into a dangerous abyss,” he said.
