Families of Israeli hostages disrupt Knesset committee

Relatives of Israelis being held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip burst into the Knesset Finance Committee to demand that the government do more to secure their family members’ release.

“You will not sit here while our children die,” some screamed. “What about ransoming captives?”

“You dismantled a government over hametz but for [the hostages] you don’t dismantle it,” other protesters scream at lawmakers, referring to how a fight over permitting leavened bread in hospitals over Passover was the immediate catalyst for a member of the previous government’s razor-thin coalition to defect, kicking off a three-month tumble toward its collapse.

Responding to the protesters, committee chairman Moshe Gafni of United Torah Judaism says that while “leaving the coalition won’t help” he “understood” the protesters’ pain.

משפחות החטופים פרצו לדיון ועדת הכספים ופוצצו אותו. משמר הכנסת מתחננים שייצאו ולא מעזים לפנות בכוח pic.twitter.com/RY3nZUL4zP

— שחר גליק Shahar Glick (@glick_sh) January 22, 2024