Zehava Galon
Zehava GalonTomer Neuberg/Flash 90

Meretz chairwoman MK Zehava Galon on Sunday came to the defense of MK Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home), following a string of inappropriate sexist remarks against her.

In her comments, Galon spoke out against an article in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper which, in describing a weekend getaway for Shaked and her husband at a hotel in Jerusalem, wrote in the final paragraph that Shaked was seen in the pool area but “to the disappointment of other vacationers made a point to keep her clothes on”.

"Whoever authorized this repulsive paragraph which appeared this morning in Yedioth Ahronoth should be ashamed," Galon wrote on her Facebook page, adding, "Enough already with the sexist comments about Ayelet Shaked and her physical appearance."

The Meretz chairwoman noted that she is separating between the political differences she has with Shaked and chauvinistic manifestations.

"Shaked is an intelligent and hard-working politician with nationalistic and anti-democratic views. I have no intention to spare her from criticism if and when she will use her new role to harm the legal system, but I do not intend to continue to remain silent when every day we have someone else polluting our public space with such miserable statements,” wrote Galon.

She added that those newspapers which publish such statements "send women and girls the message that no matter how they succeed and progress - even if they are appointed to serve in the government - they will be judged first and foremost according to their physical appearance.”

“These remarks preserve, not by accident and not by chance, a reality in which women everywhere are limited to their looks and to what men think about them,” wrote Galon.

"I'm going to stand against Ayelet Shaked on any initiative that promotes the weakening of the Supreme Court and the harming of Israeli democracy. When it comes to the treatment she receives as a woman and the remarks that reduce and degrade her, I am standing by her side,” she concluded.

The Yedioth Ahronoth remark followed a repugnant status by former Shinui MK Yosef Paritzky, who wrote on his Facebook page that "this is the first time in Israel the justice minister can star on the calendars that hang in garages.”

His statements created an angry stir, with Meretz MK Michal Rozin rushing to defend Shaked against "chauvinistic comments."

The day after posting the repugnant status, Paritzky was interviewed on Radio Darom. Instead of apologizing, the former minister exclaimed that “one has to say a kind word about Shaked, and that is the only kind word I found.”

Paritzky then added that Shaked “appears day and night on all sorts of magazines, in various fashion shows. I mean, this is not a person who avoids presenting herself before the camera." 

"It's not like I took someone who had never struck a model's pose to exhibit her beauty, and she is very beautiful – like many of the Reich's women. Oops, sorry, one must not compare.”

On Sunday Paritzky continued with similar remarks, telling Channel 10, “I am a lawyer and need to congratulate the incoming Justice Minister by saying something good.”

"So I thought to congratulate her as a champion of human rights, or perhaps in continuing the glorious heritage of previous justice ministers...but she doesn't...so the only good thing I could think of is what I said," he added.