Jerusalem – Netanyahu Shouted Down By Bereaved Families at Protective Edge Memorial Ceremony

Jerusalem – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was slammed by bereaved parents on Tuesday during his speech at the national memorial service for the fallen soldiers of Operation Protective Edge at the Mount Herzl military cemetery.

The memorial ceremony was also attended by President Reuven Rivlin and the families of the soldiers who fell during the 2014 summer conflict.

“My brothers and sisters, fellow bereaved families, your anguish is my anguish and your pain is my pain,” Netanyahu began only to be interrupted by a bereaved father, Yehoram Tal, who shouted, “we don’t believe you.”

“You are ruining democracy and taking control of the media,” shouted Yehoram, whose son, Major Omri Tal, was killed in action along with several of his soldiers when a mortar shell hit their staging area outside the Gaza Strip. “My son died for democracy, not for this regime. I did not become a bereaved father and pay such a terrible price for this, for you to ruin Israeli democracy.”

Netanyahu responded by saying that he himself is a bereaved brother and that he understands the pain. Netanyahu’s older brother Yoni was killed in action during the Entebbe hostage rescue operation in 1976.

The prime minister was also booed by other family members of fallen soldiers with some calling out, “you understand nothing.”

Another bereaved father demanded the creation of an independent committee of inquiry presided over by a judge to determine accountability for the operation.

“If you don’t do that, next year you will be standing here and giving the exact same speech all over again,” shouted Motti Matt, who also lost his son Lee in the operation.