Those hopping on the bandwagon to try to pour fuel on the fire raging in Israeli society can and should be called out
The Knesset visitors’ gallery, the largest and uppermost of the plenum’s galleries, is positioned facing the podium, to command the entire chamber. Since the terrible day of Simchas Torah, the term “gallery” has assumed a tragic double meaning, with photos of the hostages held in Gaza being displayed on the empty seats.
Foreign dignitaries on solidarity visits to the chamber have been brought to the podium to illustrate how every Knesset member sitting in the plenum has the hostages before his eyes at every moment, silent spectators from above.
Given the fact that Knesset members have continued bickering after the Simchas Torah massacre as they did before, it would be hard to say that the silent spectators in the upper gallery have had much of an influence on the hall below them over the past 80 days.
But last week, something did change. The silence in the hostages’ gallery was broken when Prime Minister Netanyahu took to the podium only to be interrupted again and again by rhythmic chants of “now, now,” by families of the hostages packing the gallery.
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