Regev fires back at Yesh Atid MK for saying she slept her way to the top

At a Knesset debate on Monday, Stern called out Regev, claiming that he "knows how she advanced in the army."

By TAMAR URIEL-BEERI, GIL HOFFMAN
Updated: NOVEMBER 6, 2018 18:16
Culture minister Regev hits back at MK for saying she slept her way to the top, November 6, 2018 (Ministry of Culture)
Culture Minister Miri Regev released a message on social media on Tuesday afternoon, starting the new hashtag #YouToo over controversial comments made by Yesh Atid MK Elazar Stern on how she 'advanced in the army.'
At a Knesset debate on Monday, Stern called out Regev, claiming that he "knows how she advanced in the army."
Regev, in her public response, said that "Stern's comments are an indictment of the IDF's commanders and the advancement of women in the army."
"He joined the men who slander women, strip and disparage them. #YouToo."

Regev continued in explaining that Stern suggested that she "advanced differently than men advance in the IDF, by the criteria and with recommendations from [her] commanders, but by female objectification."

"In light of the blunt, sexist suggestions Stern made, I have turned to the Knesset's legal adviser, to the security minister and the Knesset's ethics witness to open an investigation with my commanders from the army," Regev continued.
She additionally called on Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid to "suspend Stern immediately," explaining that "there is no room" for someone who makes "sexist suggestions."
Lapid defended Stern and his intentions, saying that "anyone who attributed wrong intentions to a respected former IDF major general who has positively influenced generations of fighters does not know Stern."

"The low discourse that Miri Regev has stooped to is not part of Stern's values," Lapid said. "Stern's context was that he was speaking about what Regev has done non-stop to curry favor with her superiors, which peaked during the Gaza Strip disengagement when she was IDF spokeswoman. Anyone who heard anything different apparently has a severe problem."

Stern himself said that what happened was that during his own speech in the Knesset plenum, Regev heckled him with insults about his IDF service. He said his comments about her advancement in the army were solely about "her extra exuberance in serving her superiors during the disengagement and today, kissing up to them with no trace of an actual worldview or ideology."
He said emphatically "there was no connection to sexism."


Related Tags
elazar stern