Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon was unfazed on Wednesday by insults that were directed against him during Tuesday’s demonstration at Rabin Square in support of IDF soldier Elor Azariya.
Azariya faces manslaughter charges for controversially shooting dead a neutralized terrorist, after being under the mistaken impression the terrorist was still armed.
Some of the participants at the rally shouted “Boogie is the name of a dog”, using the Defense Minister’s nickname.
But Ya’alon responded with a sense of humor, taking to Twitter and Facebook and pointing out that the demonstrators had mispronounced his nickname.
“Just to be clear – it’s Bogie, not Boogie,” he wrote.
The reason that the protesters singled out Ya’alon is due to the fact that he has been very vocal in his criticism of Azariya’s actions.
Ya’alon was backed on Wednesday by opposition chairman MK Yitzhak Herzog, who wrote on Facebook, “Bogie for them is the name of a dog. Bogie. The man who was wounded and risked his life for the sake of Israel so many times. The man who looked death in the eye.”
Herzog added, “Ma’asiyahu is the name of a prison, and it would be appropriate if those who were documented threatening, beating, and debasing the IDF, its commanders and state institutions, arrive there immediately before Bogie becomes the name of a square.”