Likud MK Avichai Boaron criticized hostage family activist Einav Zangauker on Sunday, saying she had placed her son’s well-being ahead of national interests and acted in a way that contradicted Israeli values.
“Einav Zangauker put her son’s well-being before the public good. I don’t want to speak about her personally, but when she slapped an IDF officer, she diminished herself,” Boaron said in an interview with 103FM.
“There’s an agenda here that is not ours, not an Israeli value. To put yourself above the public, to think the world revolves around you, and from that mindset to say such things about the prime minister, that is not our way.”
He added that society faces two choices: to place the public good before the individual, or the individual good before the public.
Boaron also claimed that some organizations and interest groups are using families of hostages for political purposes, particularly in anti-government demonstrations such as those on Kaplan Street.
“There are organizations and interest groups using some of the families of hostages for political purposes, on the left side of the political map,” he said. “In the Kaplan coalition and in the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, parents have testified that they were forced to deliver certain political messages.”
When asked whether he remains in contact with families of hostages, Boaron declined to provide details.
'These are private matters, not public ones'
“These are private matters, not public ones,” he said. “We are all part of the story of the hostages, and we are all committed to doing everything, under these sad circumstances, to bring the best outcome possible until the last hostage is returned.”
Following the interview, broadcaster Udi Segal strongly criticized Boaron’s comments.
“Boaron’s remarks reflect a mindset of deep moral confusion and a lack of understanding of what civic strength is, whether it is Tzav 9, the protesters on Kaplan, at Hostage Square, or in the Tikva Forum,” Segal said.
“The mere fact that public officials belittle citizens and activists is a disgrace, and it harms unity.”
Boaron later issued a response.
“The moral confusion lies with those who put the good of the individual above that of the public and its security, those who believe the world exists solely to serve them, and therefore allow themselves to physically attack public officials and even an IDF officer, as Zangauker did,” he said. “That culture is not ours. This moral reckoning, this distinction between the two sides, must be made. The public will decide which side it is on.”