Outcry in Israel After Likud-Linked Figure Attacks October 7 Survivor Lifshitz
A major political storm erupted in Israel after Likud-linked activist Itzik Bontzel attacked October 7 survivor Yocheved Lifshitz. MK Gadi Eisenkot and others defended her, prompting Bontzel to issue a public apology.
The political storm surrounding statements made by lawyer Itzik Bontzel against October 7 survivor Yocheved Lifshitz has escalated significantly, drawing sharp responses from opposition figures. Bontzel, who has been placed on the Likud electoral list, launched a fierce verbal attack against Lifshitz, claiming that her animosity toward Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had clouded her judgment. In response, Lifshitz struck back at the prime minister, while MK Gadi Eisenkot swiftly stepped in to defend her.
Lifshitz asserted that Bontzel’s remarks were a calculated attempt to divert public attention from the government's culpability for the catastrophic security failures of October 7. "Netanyahu sent his proxy to incite against me so that people would stop talking about the intelligence warnings he received, and the personal red flags that could have averted this disaster," she wrote. She added that no amount of defamation or falsehoods would absolve the leadership of responsibility for abandoning hostages to their deaths.
Political Reactions and Condemnations
Weighing in on the controversy, MK Gadi Eisenkot issued a scathing rebuke of the ruling party and expressed solidarity with the survivor. "Yocheved Lifshitz is a heroine. A veteran kibbutznik from Nir Oz who was abducted from her home on the morning of October 7 alongside her late husband Oded, who was murdered in captivity," Eisenkot wrote. He accused the administration of hitting a new moral low, arguing that a proper leadership would bow its head in shame, take responsibility, and apologize to citizens whose foundational social contract was shattered.
The public spat also drew commentary from other prominent figures, including Hagai Lover, a bereaved father whose son Yonatan fell in combat. While expressing personal pain over some of Lifshitz's past political statements, Lover firmly condemned any wish for hostages to remain captive, emphasizing that no political grievance justifies cruelty. Following the widespread public backlash, Bontzel issued a public apology on social media, stating that he spoke in the heat of emotion and did not intend his harsh phrasing regarding Lifshitz and Hamas.
