The personal price Boaz Bismuth paid because of Itamar Ben Gvir: "My mother deserved more"

Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, MK Boaz Bismuth, addressed in an interview with the C14 web program, "On the way to the ballot box with Dana Varon," the painful event where he was forced to interrupt his shiva to attend a Knesset vote. Bismuth was summoned to vote in favor of the "frozen funds" law, which was essential for passing the state budget, after Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and his party members refused to support the law, creating a crisis in the coalition.

As recalled, Bismuth's arrival at the Knesset was required after the coalition chairman clarified that there were no parliamentary offsets available, against the backdrop of the opposition factions' refusal to cooperate and accommodate the grieving MK. Likud Knesset members Keti Shitrit and Tali Gottlieb even appealed directly to the chairman of Otzma Yehudit, Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, with a request to reach an arrangement that would prevent Bismuth's arrival at the plenum in the midst of mourning, but their appeals were rejected by the minister.

In the debut episode of the program, Bismuth shared the pain that remained with him from that evening and said that since then, a reconciliation has taken place between him and Ben Gvir, who apologized for the incident. Bismuth described the heavy personal price he paid when he was forced to leave his sister and his wife alone with the guests on the evening of the shiva meal. He added with sadness that he had to say the final Kaddish of the shiva via FaceTime:

"My mother deserved a little more than a Kaddish via FaceTime."

In addition, Bismuth addressed Deputy Minister Almog Cohen, who on that day violated party discipline and voted in favor of the law contrary to his party's position, a move that exacerbated the rift between him and Ben Gvir and eventually led to his departure from Otzma Yehudit. Regarding Cohen's conduct on that dramatic day, MK Bismuth said with a smile that "he was very sweet that day," expressing appreciation for the step that helped him in his difficult time.