Ben-Gurion's grandson lashes out at Netanyahu and his supporters: "Go kiss the mezuzahs""

November 17, 2015   

The David Ben-Gurion Memorial Saga: After opposition members were outraged that the prime minister and coalition members would be absent from the state memorial ceremony for the first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, his grandson, Dr. Yariv Ben-Eliezer of the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, was interviewed this morning (Tuesday).

Below is the transcript of the conversation.

Moderator: Hello Dr. Ben Eliezer. If your grandfather were alive, what would he say?

Ben Eliezer: "He would say something like this, if I can quote him without his name: Go kiss your mezuzahs and kiss me... because what this government did is a tremendous insult to the symbol that this man who ruined this country... sat there Alibaba and the sixty bandits, plundered the country and divided the loot among themselves, and they didn't have time to come to the memorial service.

Moderator: But has a solution been found in the last few hours?

Ben Eliezer: A compromise was found, my grandfather is not a hostage in the hands of Bibi and the gang of greedy people who sat here, and said a compromise was found to honor the memory of Ben Gurion.

Panel member: What you are doing is an ugly act, you are taking advantage of the fact that you are Ben-Gurion's grandson to convey political messages.

Ben Eliezer: I want to reach you in such a situation. I would prefer not to be the apprentice of Hanna Bavli (a famous columnist on matters of etiquette and behavior in the past, A.H.).

""They have hurt one of the symbols of the people of Israel, and the most dear to me personally. I don't want to be a disciple of Hanna Bavli, I prefer to be a disciple of Miri Regev. And to the scoundrel who rebuked me, I can say what Miri Regev said to the Attorney General.".

Panelist: It's a shame you express yourself this way, your grandfather would be ashamed of you.

Ben Eliezer: Go prostrate yourself on the graves of other righteous people, not on my grandfather's grave, little one.

The program's host, Lucy Aharish, took exception to Ben-Eliezer's harsh words and condemned them.

The commemoration storm erupted after it became clear that following the votes in the Knesset plenum on approving the state budget, Knesset members would not be able to participate in the commemoration to be held on Wednesday morning.

MK Yitzhak Herzog sent a scathing letter to Netanyahu: "No government representative will attend the memorial service for David Ben-Gurion, the first prime minister, on Wednesday. This is the situation: the government does not see fit to stop the budget votes even for three hours to honor the legacy of the first prime minister. Has the country finally lost respect for its symbols? In my opinion, this is a disgrace," Herzog wrote.

In response, the Prime Minister's Office said: "The issue has not yet been finally closed. We are trying to find a solution because of the budget votes on Wednesday.".