Avishai Ben Haim and Bereaved Father Rafi Ben Shtrit Clash Over Netanyahu Support

A heated media dispute unfolded between commentator Avishai Ben Haim and bereaved father and Israel Beytenu party member Rafi Ben Shtrit. The conflict began when Ben Shtrit rejected Ben Haim's support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Ben Shtrit criticized Ben Haim for promoting what he called a "delusional theory" about Mizrahi Jews and Netanyahu's supporters, emphasizing his own background as a Mizrahi, religious Zionist from Beit Shean who opposes Netanyahu, whom he views as a real and immediate threat to the Zionist enterprise.

Ben Shtrit accused Ben Haim of spreading baseless claims about ethnic hegemony and disparaged his arguments as nonsense. In response, Ben Haim asked Ben Shtrit to simply acknowledge if his claims were incorrect rather than resorting to insults. He defended his position that Netanyahu’s political camp marginalized the mainstream Mizrahi stream in Israel, including loyal Likud voters and soldiers, while allegedly favoring the Islamic Movement.

Ben Shtrit fired back, rejecting Ben Haim’s moralizing about sacrifice and devotion, and accused him of ignoring Netanyahu’s responsibility for the October 7 massacre, the worst Jewish tragedy since the Holocaust. He insisted his stance was a clear political position against Netanyahu and Likud’s leadership failures during and after the attack, unrelated to voters’ ethnic origins.

The exchange highlights deep divisions within Israeli society and politics, especially regarding Netanyahu’s leadership and the Mizrahi community’s political alignment. The debate also reflects ongoing tensions over the October 7 terror attack and its political repercussions.