A day after it was revealed that smear text messages sent to members of the Democrats party came from Nimrod Shefer’s campaign, rival candidate Ronen Tzur broke his silence and attacked the move sharply on Wednesday morning. In a post, Tzur said: “Amid Sagal exposed last night: Nimrod Shefer’s campaign sent SMS messages that smeared itself, to blacken and make me hated in the eyes of the party members and voters.”
Tzur said the episode capped “a terrible week of blood libel and incitement,” adding, “The truth has won again over hate.” He also condemned the tone of the primary race, writing: “This is not how you build a home, not how you build a political home, and this is not democracy.”
The controversy erupted after it emerged that messages circulated to party members, which described Shefer as “an extreme leftist who grovels before the supporters of October 7,” were not sent by his political opponents but by his own camp. According to the report, the intent was to make it appear that Tzur was behind a campaign to defame Shefer, in order to generate sympathy for Shefer among voters.
The tactic, known in politics as a “false flag,” drew wide attention and raised difficult questions for the party leadership about the conduct of the internal election. After the exposure, Shefer issued a public apology, saying, “I apologize. One of the messages sent today as part of the primaries came from my team, but was written so it would look as if it was intended to attack me.” He added that not knowing about the move did not absolve him: “The responsibility is entirely mine.”
