Opposition party leaders demand Speaker Ohana apologize over violence against bereaved parents
Heads of all six opposition parties in the Knesset demanded in a letter to Knesset Speaker MK Amir Ohana (Likud) on Tuesday that he apologize for the use of force on Monday by Knesset guards against family members of victims of the October 7 Hamas massacre.
The incident occurred at the start of a Knesset plenum discussion with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in attendance, regarding the government’s ongoing refusal to form a State Commission of Inquiry into the massacre. The families, members of an organization called the October Council, claimed they had notified Knesset authorities of their intention to observe the discussion from the visitor’s section. However, they were denied entry, and a violent confrontation occurred, during which at least one bereaved father fainted and required medical treatment.
In their letter, the opposition party leaders said that they were told that Ohana had decided on an ongoing policy of up to 15 people at a time in the visitor’s section in order to “prevent violence”. This was a “disgraceful and completely unacceptable decision” that “contradicts the fundamental essence of the Israeli Knesset as an institution that is open to all citizens and respects its guests, all the more so bereaved families,” the managers wrote.
They added that they were “shocked” that the Knesset guards used force to block their entry and that the order came “from the Speaker and Director-General of the Knesset.” They wrote that the incident was a “stain” on the Knesset, and criticized the fact that after the families were allowed in and turned their backs to the prime minister as he began to speak, Ohana ordered them to be removed. He eventually rescinded the order.
What the opposition MKs said
“We, managers of the opposition parties, insist that you publish clarifications about your orders and about the entire incident, as well as a clear apology to the bereaved families and families of hostages,” they wrote.
The signees were MKs Merav Ben-Ari (Yesh Atid), Pnina Tamano-Shata (National Unity), Oded Forer (Yisrael Beytenu), Efrat Rayten (Labor), Walid Taha (Ra’am), and Ahmad Tibi (Ta’al).
Following the incidents on Monday, the Knesset spokesperson put out the following statement: “In light of the unfortunate incident that occurred today at the Knesset with the families of the October 7 Council, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana instructed the Knesset Director-General and the Knesset Officer to conduct an investigation into the matter.”
“Since the beginning of the war, the Knesset has opened its doors to the families of the hostages and the bereaved families in an unprecedented manner, and it will continue to be an open home for all citizens of Israel,” the statement concluded.
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