MK Daniel Ben-Simon (Labor) broke ranks with other Jewish Knesset members who all supported the IDF publicly following the naval confrontation with the pro-terror flotilla. Ben Simon told French television channel BFM-TV that Israeli public opinion is extremely critical of the IDF action and of its results. The political ramifications of the action, he said, will be taken into account in the coming days.
His statements were not corroborated by statistics or polls, and on the contrary, spontaneous support for the IDF action could be seen and heard all over Israel.
Ben-Simon's statements were a departure from the patriotic line toed by other Israeli interviewees on French news channels. Israeli Ambassador to France Daniel Shek, for instance, told RTL that Israeli forces had acted in self-defense against an attack by armed passengers in the flotilla.
Ben-Simon was also highly critical of Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who leads his own party.
Maariv reporter Kalman Liebskind reported earlier this week that Ben-Simon's wife, Uriela Ben-Tzvi, heads a PR firm named Ben Or Media that represents the New Israel Fund and many of the radical organizations it supports. The office is currently working with the Palestinian Authority to spread support for its boycott of goods manufactured by Jews in Judea and Samaria, Liebskind reported, noting that it is possible that Ben-Simon is benefiting financially – through his wife – as a result of the boycott. When he asked Ben-Simon for his position on this matter, the MK hung up the phone on him.