Ayelet Shaked Fires Back After Yeshiva Visit Sparks Right-Wing Backlash

Former minister Ayelet Shaked sparked a fierce online dispute after visiting the Shavei Hevron yeshiva, drawing criticism from right-wing activists still furious over her role in the Bennett-Lapid government.

Rabbi Eliav Turgeman, a graduate of the yeshiva, attacked the visit and accused Shaked of trying to normalize herself in the religious Zionist public ahead of the election.

“As a graduate of the yeshiva, I am ashamed by this cynical use,” he wrote. “Frauds should stay outside. Politely say to them: no thank you.”

Shaked responded sharply, accusing Turgeman of personal incitement and saying she was embarrassed by his remarks.

“I am embarrassed by your response, and ashamed for you, both as an IDF officer and as a rabbi,” Shaked wrote. She said he knew she had worked extensively on behalf of hesder yeshivas and higher yeshivas, out of belief in combining Torah study and military service.

Shaked accused him of offering “division and hatred instead of love and brotherhood in the people of Israel,” and said others in religious Zionism were also ashamed of his comments.

Turgeman rejected her criticism and again accused Shaked and former prime minister Naftali Bennett of creating what he called a radical left-wing government that empowered the Muslim Brotherhood and progressives.

“No amount of money you poured into hesder yeshivas will change that fact,” he wrote.

He said unity and love of Israel cannot be used to blur ideological differences, and called on Shaked to stay home and repent.

The exchange drew broad reaction online, with many right-wing users backing Turgeman and arguing that Shaked and Bennett should not be welcomed back into religious Zionist public life.