Lawmakers slam Right for criticizing soldiers’ response
MK Michaeli: They did what their officer ordered them to do and are now are being called cowards.
By UDI SHAHAMUpdated: JANUARY 10, 2017 00:03Funeral held for soldiers killed by terror attack in Jerusalem (photo credit: ANNA AHRONHEIM)
Left-wing leaders slammed politicians from the Right for criticizing soldiers for the way they responded in Sunday’s deadly ramming attack.“Our fight is not just with our enemies, it is also for the future and character of Israeli society,” Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid said on Monday.“While the injured were fighting for their lives, while the security services were at the scene and the blood was still on the floor, there were already those who were quick to try and drag this terrible terrorist attack into a political argument,” he said. “They spread disgraceful lies that all the soldiers fled the scene because of the trial of Elor Azaria. They called it ‘The Azaria effect.’” “They ignored the fact that soldiers shot and killed the terrorist.Instead of embracing the soldiers, they attacked the chief of staff, a man who has led troops into battle for nearly 40 years,” Lapid added.“All of those keyboard warriors, who talk about loving Israel but hate what the people of Israel [do] and everything that Israel stands for.”Lapid referred to the statement MK Oren Hazan (Likud) posted immediately after the attack.“Looking at the soldiers fleeing from the scene of the attack reflects [Ehud] Barak’s and [Moshe] Ya’alon’s legacy,” the statement read. “After the Elor Azaria trial, Barak and Ya’alon stood on every stage possible praising the verdict.But now after this ramming attack, in which you can see how the ‘Azaria effect’ influenced the soldiers, you don’t hear the voices of the former chiefs of staff.”Zionist Union MK Merav Michaeli said: “It is amazing that cabinet ministers and MKs are so used attacking the IDF. Now we witness an offensive against the soldiers that were at the attack site. Those soldiers, who did what their officer ordered them to do and did what they were expected to do, are now being called cowards by people who weren’t even there.”“Those people who called for the pardoning of Elor Azaria before even hearing the verdict are the same people who do not wait for the military inquiry of the attack,” she added. “They already know who acted right and who fled the scene. This government started by attacking the Left... now it attacks the soldiers. They act like a gang of outlaws; instead of building the state of Israel, they are ruining it.”MK Tzipi Livni (Zionist Union) criticized her political rivals for creating the link between the deadly attack and the Elor Azaria trial.“The Azaria verdict should not confuse the IDF soldiers,” she said. “Whoever blurred the lines [between shooting during a terrorist attack and shooting after it ended] are those who create the confusion. It is about time for politicians to stop determining the rules of engagement or inquiring [about] military cases on their Facebook and Twitter accounts. For that, we have the IDF and the legal system.”
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