Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Ram Ben Barak (Yesh Atid) apologized on Tuesday for incorrectly reporting to the Knesset late Monday night that no one had died in that day’s helicopter crash.
Ben Barak told MKs who were worried about the Navy airmen whose fate was unknown at the time that everyone involved in the crash had been rescued.
“I apologize for my mistake in reporting about the crash,” Ben Barak tweeted on Tuesday. “My statement was made innocently. I send my condolences to the grieving families, and wish for the health of the officer who was injured.”
Ben Barak faced criticism from opposition MKs and IDF spokesman Ran Kochav for the incorrect report
While the media faces censorship on what it can report, Knesset members are under no obligation to abide by such rules and have freedom and immunity to say whatever they want, even about ongoing military operations.
Likud MK David Amsalem apologized for reporting about the two victims before their families had been informed of their death.