Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud Party harshly criticized opposition lawmaker Naama Lazimi on Sunday after she claimed the premier’s oldest son had been “exiled” abroad for hitting him.
Lazimi’s comments at a Knesset Finance Committee meeting are “a despicable lie, a new low toward the bottom of the left’s sewer,” the party stated, threatening to sue anyone who repeats the claim.
The far-left MK, a member of The Democrats Party, “should be stripped of her [parliamentary] immunity and pay, just as anyone who echoes this despicable lie will receive a lawsuit and pay too,” the party added.
Speaking at a budget discussion earlier on Sunday, Lazimi had asked coalition members “whether there is still an intention to finance [Yair Netanyahu’s] stay [in the United States] because he hit the prime minister and was forced to go abroad because he harmed a symbol of government.”
After the debate, Lazimi said, “The prime minister’s son has been staying there for nearly two years at enormous cost to the public. I demanded to know who is financing Yair Netanyahu’s stay in Miami, who is paying for his security and what the total cost to the taxpayer is.”
She went on to say that “everyone knows why he has been in Miami for such a long period of time, with public funding. During the debate, I raised the argument that journalists, opinion leaders and public figures are already familiar with.”
Last year, the Israel Police sought to open a criminal probe into Lazimi after she joined anti-government protesters in blocking Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway and lighting a fire on the busy traffic artery.
The request was examined by the police’s Department of Investigations and Intelligence and was forwarded to Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara for consideration, according to Hebrew media reports in April.
