Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has been in the eye of the storm again in recent days after he filed defamation lawsuits against a number of people who spoke against him and his family during his short tenure as Israel's leader. Bennett's mother, Myrna, who Rabbi Ronen Shaulov, one of the defendants in the case, falsely claimed was not Jewish, spoke Thursday morning on an Israeli radio show, and said: "My life is very interesting. Suddenly I stopped being Jewish."
Myrna, An American-born Israeli who practices Orthodox Judaism said: "When it first came out six months ago I was in a big shock. I thought about my parents who came to the US from Poland and Russia because of pogroms and half of their families remained in the hands of the Nazis.
Naftali Bennett Sues Rabbi Who Claims His Mother Isn’t Jewish https://t.co/wXKNoqsqwe pic.twitter.com/WqRoNhkkwL
— Andy Vermaut (@AndyVermaut) December 8, 2022
“Suddenly this happened to me, at first I thought it was something strange that would pass and now I understand that everything can become a fact to people who want to believe it." One of the defendants in Bennett’s lawsuits is a rabbi with over 150K followers on various social networks.
"People who know me. Nice people called me and said things like 'good for you, you've reached such a high place. We didn't know you were converted,'" she noted and added: "I said: "You know if I had converted I would be proud of it,'' but no I was nit converted."
Naftali Bennett sues rabbi claiming his mother isn’t Jewish https://t.co/xu7wQ7k31I
— Arutz Sheva Articles (@israelnatnews) December 7, 2022
Myrna, who was reluctant to take legal action, expressed support for her son’s lawsuits. "I understand that this is the only way, I don't know if it is possible to change lies that go deep, but I am very proud that he is doing it. When I saw this rabbi on TV a thousand times I felt proud that [Naftali] was doing it. This man said that I, Myrna, am not Jewish and you can search it up on Google, he very clearly said so."
This guy, "Rabbi" Ronen Shaulov, claims that Naftali Bennet isn't Jewish and sold Israel to the goyim ("the dog, may his name be erased"). We all know who allowed evangelical Christians to openly and fearlessly proselytize Israelis - and his name rhymes with Freebie. https://t.co/LYm8G4tBbk
— Jewlicious 🌻 (@jewlicious) March 6, 2022
The former PM’s mother was also hesitant on claiming if these claims about her were a targeted political measure. "I don't want to answer that. Yes, I don't believe that things like this can suddenly happen." Maybe half a year ago I thought, we said in the family that we wouldn't make this into anything bigger than it has to be, but now I think it is important and the people who want to believe in something so stupid that they learn from Google, will do so. Many people learn something about what is happening here with the lawsuits even with this lie," she added.
