Jerusalem – Opposition MKs blasted Prime Minister Netanyahu Monday for condemning the behavior of soccer fans from the Israeli-Arab town of Sakhnin following last week’s drowning of 10 post-high school students in a flash flood.
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Following a report on the Israel National News website that accused Sakhnin fans of cheering during a moment of silence for the victims of the tragedy – the report proved to be false – Netanyahu said the incident was a “disgrace” and called on “all public leaders, Jews and non-Jews alike, to condemn this disgraceful behavior.”
Video footage of the moment of silence confirmed that the report was false.
Notably, Netanyahu has not (as of this writing) removed the comment from his Facebook page, and none of the premier’s political allies have criticized the post.
Netanyahu’s political opponents, on the other hand, accused him of taking advantage of the fake report to incite hatred of Sakhnin’s Israeli-Arab fan base.
“Fake News, Netanyahu-style, who forgot his role and is acting like a common soccer hooligan,” wrote Ayman Odeh, head of the Joint List Party. “The Prime Minister has shown that he does not care about facts, from ‘the Arabs are flocking to the polling stations’ to ‘they did not respect the moment of silence.’
“He is busy only with incitement,” Odeh added, alluding to the infamous video Netanyahu posted on his Facebook page on Election Day in 2015 warning that “right-wing rule is in danger. Arabs are flocking to the polls,” in an attempt to coax undecided voters to get out and vote. The claims he made were baseless.
“It’s hard to imagine a Prime Minister that would take such a risk with such a small, yet such a blatant lie, a lie that ranges from amazing to ridiculous. But it is worth taking a moment to talk about this strange story, because in the case of Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is not a mistake, but policy,” said Meretz Chairwoman Tamar Zandberg, adding that Netanyahu “actively looks for opportunities to systematically mark Arabs as heartless monsters who are a threat to the nation and enemies from within.”
Shelly Yehimovitch (Labor) also critised Netanyahu, saying that the statements about Sakhnin fans represented “a step up in his deranged incitement, which joins his false accusation about the New Israel Fund being responsible for his failure to solve the immigrant issue.
“It’s not just incitement against political rivals, but also fabricating lies and inciting using those same lies you’ve fabricated,” Yehimovitch said.
The game was on Saturday. Israel National News did not initiate the story – Israel National News was repeating (quoting names) what was said by others. So the question that comes to mind is just who started the story and why? For that matter, why would one believe the alleged video was not somehow manipulated?