The approval of Knesset member Tali Gottlieb’s immunity from criminal prosecution, tied to the disclosure of the name of an Shin Bet officer who is the partner of Shikma Bressler, is still stirring major public and media controversy. On the opening of his listener call-in show on Radio 103fm, journalist and host Guy Peleg launched an unusually harsh attack on Gottlieb and also directed criticism at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and coalition lawmakers.
Peleg said, “Of all the despicable phenomena that the defendant brought into Israeli politics, in my view Gottlieb is the most despicable of all.” He also condemned the political backing she continues to receive, saying the coalition “embraced and keeps embracing her” even after the Shin Bet, under the current head of the agency, made clear how dangerous her conduct is to state security.
He described Gottlieb as an example of everything “rotten, sick, polluted, despicable and dangerous” in Israeli politics, adding, “That is my feeling and my opinion.” He also accused her of showing “a minimum lack of respect for state institutions,” and called her behavior “bullying, populism and superficiality.”
Peleg argued that the episode reflects a broader loss of power by the state’s institutions in the face of such conduct. “An entire country seems to have lost its strength against this craziness,” he said, adding that it is “craziness that spits on security” and that she “spits on the law, justice and public order.” He ended by asking, “Can one remain silent in the face of everything she represents?”
