Bennett Responds After Former Yamina Ally Accuses Him Over Bereaved Family

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett responded Tuesday to sharp criticism from Shai Maimon, a former member of Yamina, after Maimon accused him of falsely portraying bereaved parents as politically motivated Likud activists.

The dispute centers on Bennett’s claim that people who disrupted his Memorial Day event were Likud supporters who had been paid to do so. Maimon rejected that claim and said the people involved included Herzl and Merav Hagag, whose daughter Shir was murdered in a 2017 terrorist attack at the Armon Hanatziv promenade in Jerusalem.

In a post published Monday night, Maimon said the claim had angered him because, according to him, Bennett had previously relied on the Hagag family’s public support during the 2021 election campaign.

Maimon said that two days before the 2021 election, Bennett’s spokesman asked him to contact a bereaved family willing to write in support of Bennett in Yedioth Ahronoth. Maimon said he suggested the Hagag family, noting that Bennett knew them personally and had previously attended a Torah scroll dedication in memory of their daughter, where he spoke movingly.

According to Maimon, the family agreed and wrote in support of Bennett, describing him as a man whose words matched his heart.

Maimon argued that the issue that most concerned the Hagag family and other terror victims’ families at the time was the possible inclusion of Ra’am in a future government. He said Bennett had promised them privately, publicly and repeatedly that such a move would not happen.

Bennett later formed a coalition that included Ra’am, a decision that remains one of the central points of criticism from his former right-wing partners and voters.

Maimon accused Bennett of betraying those families politically and then smearing them when they protested against him. He said it was indeed members of the Hagag family who stood up at the Memorial Day event and shouted at Bennett, and argued that they had every right to confront him.

“How does he dare?” Maimon wrote, accusing Bennett of lacking backbone and treating bereaved parents with contempt.

Asked for a response by Srugim, Bennett did not address the specific allegations directly. His office said: “I love and appreciate the Hagag family and all families of terror victims.”

The exchange comes as Bennett continues his political comeback effort through his new party, Beyachad, while facing renewed criticism from former allies over the formation of the 2021 government and his reliance on Ra’am.