Labor leader says past interview in which she claimed not to have smoked pot was "a mistake."
By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMANShelly Yacimovich at the President's residence 370(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
Opposition leader Shelly Yacimovich explained her flip-flop on her past use of recreational drugs in an email she sent her supporters over the weekend.The issue of past pot smoking resurfaced a month ago when Finance Minister Yair Lapid denied repeated allegations that he had smoked marijuana years ago.Yacimovich told the Knesset Channel on Wednesday that she had smoked pot “several times when I was young” and that the last time was about 16 years ago.But the news portal Walla revealed on Thursday that in an interview with the website last year during her Knesset campaign, Yacimovich said she had not smoked marijuana.“I guess that back then [last year], I gave that answer because I was worried about how a different answer would be received,” she wrote her backers. “That was of course a mistake. I am glad I was given the opportunity to correct that mistake. I invite other politicians to correct that mistake.”Yacimovich said she does not back legalizing marijuana, but that she would consider easing punishments for the crime of smoking pot.She will face off against MK Isaac Herzog in Labor’s leadership race on November 21.
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