Dani Elgarat, a member of the Democrats party and the brother of Itzik Elgarat, who was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz and murdered in Hamas captivity, sharply criticized Likud MK Elisha Medan over his decision to set up a unity tent near the Knesset.
Elgarat accused Medan of hypocrisy, saying he had not stood by him during his campaign to bring the hostages home. During the war, however, Medan served as a reservist in the Gaza Strip, where he was critically wounded and lost both legs.
Elgarat opened his post, which sparked an uproar, with the words, "Elisha Medan, this is hypocrisy, not unity". He continued, "When I was on a hunger strike for 180 days to bring the hostages home and end their abandonment, I did not see you standing by my side. I did not hear you echo my cry, and I did not see you sharing the burden of the struggle with me".
He added, "Now you are calling for unity? Unity is not a slogan to wave around when it is convenient. It is measured precisely at those moments when someone is fighting for the values you claim to believe in".
Elgarat concluded with another attack, "You call for unity, but when you were needed to stand alongside those fighting for the hostages, you were not there. That is not unity. That is hypocrisy".
Elgarat's criticism followed Medan's announcement last night that he would set up a unity tent near the Knesset building in Jerusalem. Medan wrote, "Setting out. This Shabbat, I made a decision. I am heading to Jerusalem to set up a tent near the Knesset in a call for unity".
He wrote, "I intend to stay in the tent day and night, in the cold and rain, to give voice to large sections of the public who keep reaching out to me with their yearning for unity".
Explaining the initiative's purpose, Medan wrote, "I came to the Knesset to help this nation remain one people. In recent years, we have seen what we can do when we are together-on the battlefield, on the home front, through volunteering and at home. It is time for our parliament to look that way too".
He concluded his announcement with an invitation to the public, "The tent is open to everyone. Come sit, have a cup of hot tea and talk. See you at the tent".
Medan reported for reserve duty when the Swords of Iron war broke out on October 7, 2023, and took part in the fighting in the Gaza border communities. He later joined Battalion 697 of the Hitzey HaEsh reserve brigade, which operated in the northern Gaza Strip.
On November 10, 2023, during an operation in the Beit Hanoun area, the force in which he was serving was hit by an explosive device that detonated near a tunnel shaft. Four soldiers were killed in the incident, including the company commander, Maj. Moshe Yedidya Leiter.
Medan was critically wounded, and both his legs were amputated following the explosion. After a lengthy hospitalization and rehabilitation process, he began using prosthetic legs and later worked to promote messages of unity and social cohesion.