From sacred cows to political goats: bereavement enters the Knesset

An opinion column examining the entry of bereaved family members into Israeli politics ahead of the elections. The author warns against the political exploitation of bereavement, asserts that candidates should be judged by their actions and not by their loss, and cautions against using fallen soldiers as campaign tools. He calls for regulating memorial laws through legislation.

An opinion column by attorney Idan Siboni, a researcher of memorial laws, examining the phenomenon of bereaved family members entering Israeli politics ahead of the elections. The author analyzes the trend as a political move of casting trends, similar to the recruitment of senior military and media figures in previous election campaigns. He warns against the exploitation of bereavement as an electoral asset, and cautions that the real danger is that the fallen themselves will become part of the campaign. Siboni sets a clear rule: candidates should be judged by their actions, achievements, and positions, not by being from a bereaved family. He brings concrete examples of political use of the fallen, including a Likud AI video showing Gadi Eisenkot alongside a figure identified with his son, and a post by Naftali Bennett on the day of a fallen soldier's funeral. The author argues that the memorial space in Israel operates with almost no rules, and calls for a historic opportunity in the Knesset to regulate memorial laws through legislation, which would allow families to object to memorialization that does not match the values of the fallen.