Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is being held hostage by Hamas, demanded entry to the Knesset on Monday, blocking the entrance for vehicles after she continued to be barred following a decision last week.
“I am supposed to sit quietly while the government decides to sacrifice my son on the political altar of the coalition,” Zangauker said as she was blocked from entering.
“[I am expected] to be quiet, not to speak, to accept it submissively. They are delusional,” she added.
“The fact that I am being prevented from entering the house of the people is a disgrace; it is disrespectful for a sign of the state. But those who are disgracing it are not us – the people and the citizens – it is the failing leadership; it is the government.”
Zangauker blocked the entrance of vehicles to the Knesset, saying, “There is no entrance to the house of the people today.”
“Oh well,” she said, addressing a driver trying to get by her. “My son is in captivity. I came to the house of the people to make his cry heard – there is no entrance to the house of the people. If there is no entrance for family members of hostages, then there is no entrance for guests, and there is no entrance for elected officials.”
Additional family members of hostages and Knesset members from the opposition joined Zangauker, who also reached out to President Isaac Herzog, asking that he help her gain entrance. The president’s office said Herzog will “examine the issue.”
Opposition leader Yair Lapid joined the hostage families, saying he has “never been so ashamed of [the Knesset] and has never been so ashamed to be a member of Knesset.”
Lapid said that he was unable to reach Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, adding that he does not think there has ever been a case in which the speaker did not take the call of the head of the opposition.
“He is doing it because he is afraid of the truth that is here.”
Yesh Atid MK Shelly Tal Meron also stood with Zangauker Monday morning, saying, “It’s very, very disappointing and unfortunate that the Knesset is not letting her in – this is the people’s home. We are staying here, alongside Einav, until she gets into the Knesset and speaks her mind.”
Zangauker was barred following “repeated and severe disruptions of order in the building, despite her repeated promises to the contrary,” the Knesset spokesperson said Wednesday morning.
The statement said she had obstructed the proper functioning of committee meetings, attempted to throw a glass bottle at a visitor in the building, and threatened that she would stab the visitor if she had a knife in her possession while in the presence of Knesset security.
The Knesset Guard said Zangauker will be summoned for a discussion next week to evaluate her continued entry to the Knesset, KAN News reported.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum called on the Knesset Guard to allow Zangauker to enter. “The family forum demands that the Knesset Guard allow the immediate entry of Einav Zangauker to Israel’s Knesset,” the forum said.
“Every family member should be allowed to make their cry and the cry of their loved one to the decision makers and public officials who are responsible for the fate of the 100 hostages.”
“The house of representatives must always be open for the families of hostages who are fighting for the most basic thing – bringing their loved ones home.”
Additional family members of hostages, bereaved families, and freed hostages called on the Knesset to show respect and restraint when dealing with the families in a letter Sunday, responding to an event last week in which Knesset Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee chairman MK Simcha Rothman cut short a meeting after bereaved families did not heed his demand they stop speaking.
Letter representing families of October 7 victims
In a letter sent by the October Council organization, which represents thousands of families of victims of October 7, families called on Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana to instruct committee heads to treat families with respect and restraint, adding that the families intend to come to the Knesset on Wednesday to call for a state commission of inquiry into October 7.
The families turned to Ohana “from a sense of urgency and after very hard feelings” from the events of last week in the Knesset.
“The families want to tell the story of their loved ones in the house of the people, from a deep sense of responsibility to ensure that a disaster like this never repeats itself. ‘Never again’ begins with learning the lessons of the terrible disaster,” the letter added.
“We are turning to you in a demand to instruct all the committee heads in the Knesset to show restraint, respect, and patience to the families while they participate in committee meetings.”
The council added that the Knesset should be a place that is respectful and welcoming for those who have paid such a heavy price.
“The families of those hurt have a basic right to make their voices heard, and it is your responsibility as elected officials to first of all bow your heads in the face of the deep grief and to listen.
Representatives of the council who signed the letter included the parents of slain IDF observer Roni Eshel; Tali Biner, who survived the massacre at the Nova festival and testified on the sexual violence that occurred there; and Mira Mordechai, whose daughter, Amit Soussana, was freed from Hamas captivity and testified about the sexual violence she experienced in captivity.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.