Secular politicians, as well as Israeli reporters slammed Finance Minister Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) for calling a press conference on Shabbat.
Reporters showed up at Lapid’s Tel Aviv home on Shabbat expecting to hear some incredibly important news that would cause the minister to call them all in on Shabbat, and were angry to learn it was nothing more than a minute and a half long statement about Israel’s S&P’s credit rating, and that he is close to reaching an agreement with Netanyahu on the 2015 budget.
The reactions came fast and furious.
The Marker, an Israeli financial site, quickly published an interview with the secular (and radical leftwing) Meretz chief Zahava Gal’on, where she slammed Lapid for calling the conference.
She spoke about how Lapid took all the reporters away from their families on their day of rest, for a completely unimportant announcement, and then rubbed it in that he hasn’t even fulfilled his campaign promises to introduce public transportation on Shabbat.
Gal’on, a secular Jew, said what Lapid did was the height on insensitivity.
One reporter said that unless a war broke out, there was absolutely no reason for a government official to call a press conference on Shabbat.
Another reporter said that was Lapid did was an embarrassment.
It was also pointed out by Dani Dayan, a right-wing Settler advocate , that Lapid’s actions, by default, excluded all the religious reporters who would not be able to cover the conference.