Lali Deri, running on the Amcha Yisrael list headed by Ofer Winter, has responded to mounting pressure on her and her fellow candidates to withdraw from the race. Deri lost her son Saadia Hy"d in the war.
In an open letter to Likud activist Yigal Malka, Deri wrote: "I saw the video you posted this morning, which I understand is circulating in Likud WhatsApp groups, showing me and other members of Amcha Yisrael crying, or in your words, 'whining', with the song 'He Hurt Me, Mama' playing in the background."
"You know what, Yigal, I have to tell you that you're right. I do cry sometimes. I cry at night, I cry when Shabbos comes in, I cry from a song Saadia loved or from a food he loved. But I get up every morning, every single morning, and I say Modeh Ani before You, living and eternal King, who has mercifully restored my soul within me."
Deri continued: "And then I gather strength, I smile, I remember his legacy and the legacy of his brothers who fell defending the nation I love so much, and I rise again. Because I know I have a mission to unite this nation again, and I will fulfill it."
"Even if you continue to incite, to mock, to humiliate, to degrade and to boycott me and us. I owe this to Saadia, to the fighters and to all of Am Yisrael, to all of Amcha Yisrael. When I heard that song in the background, a song meant to mock me, I thought of only one thing: how Saadia whispers to me, 'He hurt me, Mama.'"
Deri concluded: "And one more thing, Yigal, my dear: I've already been through everything. Nothing deters me, nothing frightens me, nothing will make me quit. I am steel, Lally steel."
