Bennett, Shaked heckled at events

Yamina MKs met with derogatory chants

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked were both heckled while speaking at separate Remembrance Day ceremonies on Wednesday.

At Mount Herzl, dozens of bereaved families interrupted the prime minister’s remarks during the state memorial service as he was beginning his speech.

“You should be ashamed of yourself,” some of the protesters shouted, to which Bennett responded: “I love you all and I hear your pain.”

In Petah Tikva, Shaked faced heckling on Wednesday when she spoke at a Memorial Day ceremony at the Segula Cemetery.

Arik Hanan, who was grieving over his brother, heckled Shaked immediately when she started her address.

He called Shaked “disgusting,” called on her to “be ashamed,” and to “go home.”

The heckler was called upon to respect the ceremony by the host and by other grieving families around him. He responded that it was Shaked who should have respected grieving families by not coming.

Hanan said her attendance “spat in the face of those in grief,” after government representatives were urged to not attend such ceremonies. He claimed that her government had approved stipends for terrorists.

Shaked responded on stage, “It is OK,” and “Grieving families are holy and they have a right to express their pain.”

Victims of terrorism campaigned earlier this week against ministers addressing memorial ceremonies.

Following the heckling toward the prime minister, Channel 12 reported that Yad Lebanim chairman Eli Ben-Shem strongly condemned the incident.

“On behalf of thousands of bereaved families, we strongly condemn those who harmed the sanctity of Mount Herzl and the memory of the victims,” he said, adding, “I regret that there are extremists among us who are hurting this unifying day. “

During a Memorial Day ceremony, Defense Minister Benny Gantz referred to calls by a handful of bereaved families to not attend ceremonies because of the Ra’am Party’s inclusion in the coalition.

“The bereaved relatives deserve this day and it is our duty to embrace them in any way they choose and to also lovingly accept their criticism, because it is they who paid the price of our rebirth and existence,” he said.