Hagag Family Demands Apology and NIS 50,000 From Bennett Over Memorial Day Claims

Bereaved parents Herzl and Mirav Hagag have sent a pre-lawsuit warning letter to former prime minister Naftali Bennett, demanding an apology and NIS 50,000 in compensation over remarks he made in an interview earlier this month, according to a Monday evening report on News 14.

Bennett had claimed that during his only Memorial Day in office, in May 2022, Likud hired men with megaphones to disrupt the state memorial ceremony. The Hagags say they themselves organized the protest at that event, and that nobody sent them, no party was involved, and they were not paid. They described the action as an independent civic initiative.

The letter also says the couple had once supported Bennett, but later turned against him after he decided to form a government with Mansour Abbas. They say their criticism stemmed from disappointment with his political conduct. The warning letter accuses Bennett of spreading false and malicious claims against bereaved families and specifically against them.

In the letter, they wrote that he had wrongly and disgracefully portrayed them as paid thugs hired by Likud. Bennett responded that he “loves and respects the Hagag family and all families of terror victims.”