Israeli minister resigns following harsh crackdown on anti-COVID restriction protesters

On Sunday, Eli Avidar, a minister without portfolio from the secularist Yisrael Beiteinu political party, announced his resignation as minister just two days after expressing his outrage at his own coalition government’s crackdown on anti-COVID restriction protesters.

Violent and brutal 

Avidar tweeted his frustration on his official twitter account in Hebrew Sunday.  The strongly worded message, translated to English, states, 

“Violent evacuation of protest outside the Knesset

“Last night, a violent and brutal evacuation of a protest tent outside the Knesset against the [Emergency] Authorities Law took place. 

“Without an eviction order, without a warning, with the same deception: the police came "to assist the municipality."

“Involved civilians who held a silent protest were violently evacuated. 

Police vs. Knesset

Avidar concluded his tweet complaining, “Nothing has changed since the previous government. Disgrace.”

This, despite change being anchored into the very law being protested. To obtain approval of an extension of its COVID emergency powers, the coalition government watered down the Emergency Authorities Law compared to the previous COVID law.  According to the Times of Israel:

“The new law strengthens the parliamentary oversight on government actions regarding the imposition of temporary restrictions. It cancels the government’s ability to declare a ‘special state of emergency’ which gives it the authority to ban protests …” [Emphases added].

The protestors were thus brutally attacked during a protest protected under the law while standing outside the legislative body empowered to oversee the government action from which they suffered.

Vaccine holdout

Avidar was the “Knesset’s lone known vaccine holdout,” according to the Times of Israel, which reported that he, “had refused to get vaccinated, publicly claiming that it was unnecessary since he wasn’t part of an at-risk group. He also spoke out against ‘pressuring’ citizens to inoculate, insisting that those who are uncomfortable with the vaccine should not be penalized for avoiding it.”

One year ago: MK Avidar explains why he won't vaccinate:

Condemned

The Shas Knesset faction head wrote to the Speaker of the Knesset demanding that he condemn Avidar for publicly refusing to be vaccinated, according to Arutz Sheva.  He said, "… he is not getting vaccinated, and something like this being said by a public figure is serious and outrageous… I appeal to you as Speaker to condemn such statements.”

Defended

Nonetheless, his party’s chairman, Avigdor Liberman, defended Avidar, despite his participation in demonstrations against the vaccines.

"He believes in yoga, veganism and sports. I do not think there is room for factional discipline here. The man believes in other things and should be respected," he told Kan News.

Pressured

In a possible acquiescence to conditions for promotion to “minister,” just two days before his approval as minister, “A spokesman for maverick [Avidar] issued a statement revealing that the lawmaker was vaccinated at the beginning of the month ‘due to private family reasons and out of his responsibility as a public figure.’”

Avidar’s spokesman did not provide proof of the vaccination.

Censored

Avidar’s Sunday tweet, his most recent, may indicate that the government’s treatment of citizens protesting COVID restrictions factored into his decision to resign as minister. Nonetheless, media reports of his resignation are devoid of any mention of his tweet or his dissatisfaction with COVID policy.

The Jerusalem Post merely reported that, “an expected promotion did not come, and Avidar is expected to announce that he will instead return to the Knesset.”

Israel News Magazine likewise surmised that the resignation is due to “his discontent increasing after he did not receive the senior ministerial posting he was expecting.”

The censorship of Avidar’s views on COVID predates his resignation. His Wikipedia page, which provides great detail on the seven principles of strategic dialogue he developed, as well as his political and business career, is bereft of any mention of COVID or his approach to the pandemic.