Thousands of text messages were sent today to members of Israel’s Democrats party attacking candidate Nimrod Sheffer as an "extreme leftist" who "bows to those who justified 7.10." The messages were described on Channel 12 by Amit Segal as an intensified version of criticism previously voiced by another primary contender, Ronen Tzur, against Sheffer.
A check of the campaign details produced an unexpected twist: the sender listed on the smear messages was Sheffer’s own personal spokesman. According to the report, the aim was to make party members recoil from what they would believe was a dirty campaign being run by Tzur against Sheffer, when in fact the operation was initiated by Sheffer’s own team.
After the story was published, Sheffer apologized on X. He wrote that one of the texts sent in the primaries came from his team, but was worded to look like it was attacking him. He said the message echoed Tzur’s talking points and was therefore attributed to Tzur. "This is not the spirit I want to bring to politics," he wrote, adding that not knowing about the move did not relieve him of responsibility. "The responsibility is entirely mine," he said, noting that he had called Tzur to apologize and had also apologized to fellow party members.
The incident comes only two weeks after the party approved a new constitution that includes a specific clause allowing expulsion of anyone who uses defamatory false propaganda. The affair is expected to be a first major test for party chairman Yair Golan.
