Transportation Minister Miri Regev arrived at the gates of Kibbutz Be'eri on Thursday on a scheduled visit to the Be'eri Printing Press there. Her visit took an unexpected turn, however, when her entrance to the gated community was blocked by kibbutz members for over half an hour and she was asked by the manager of the printing press to leave.
"We blocked the entrance with our bodies," one kibbutz member told Walla. "Miri Regev is a criminal with blood on her hands. Likud ministers may not have murdered people personally, but in the last 14 years, they strengthened the rule of Hamas and weakened Israeli society. They have a huge part in this failure.
אין תחתית, אין בושה, ואין גבול לציניות של ממשלת הדמים. תשמעו את הסיפור הזה:ביום חמישי האחרון שרת התחבורה מירי רגב @regev_miri הגיעה לקיבוץ בארי (שם הייתה אמורה לבקר בדפוס בארי, שמספק שירותים גם למשרד התחבורה). רק שבצעד מתבקש, חברי הקיבוץ חסמו בגופם את כניסתה במשך חצי שעה, עד… pic.twitter.com/b49S8xLwFs
— Nava Rozolyo♀️ (@rozolyo) November 4, 2023
"When we received the news that Regev was coming to visit, we decided that she would not enter Be'eri," the kibbutz member added. " Economy Minister Nir Barkat visited us because we need him, and we received him in a positive way. From our point of view, ministers and Knesset members who called us traitors and supporters of terrorism, cannot contribute to us and only want to dance on our blood. We will not allow this; we will not allow Regev to carry out a PR campaign at our expense."
Regev's communications team responded that, "On Thursday, Transportation Minister Miri Regev was on a professional tour in the South. At the end of a meeting with Eshkol Regional Council leader Gadi Yarkoni, [she] continued to Kibbutz Be'eri to show support for the rehabilitation of the kibbutz's infrastructure. Minister Regev made a decision that the Transport Ministry will restore the infrastructures of the surrounding communities - not only between the settlements but also within the settlements, even though that is the responsibility of the settlements and the regional councils.
"When the minister arrived at the kibbutz, some residents chose to prevent her and her professional team from entering, and she respected their decision," they said. "Minister Regev will continue to work to restore the infrastructure in the Gaza border communities."
Gov't doesn't understand 'the magnitude of the hour'
Yarkoni himself harshly criticized the state's handling of the aid given to the residents living in the Gaza periphery. Speaking to Maariv, he said, "People here do not know how to make decisions at the pace the residents need. There is no leadership - I could solve these problems in a week. They do not understand what happened to us here. If it costs a billion shekels, will the State of Israel fall apart? No. But if the residents do not get what they need for their livelihoods and their hope, it is worth many more billions to the state.
"They are messing us around over small things," he said. "People's vehicles and houses have been burned, and they don't understand the magnitude of the hour. The people are helping us, but we need the government to also intervene and give us a helping hand."Be'eri was among the hardest hit in Hamas's attack of October 7, with at least 120 kibbutz members killed and many more kidnapped.