"He who knows the pain of a son": Lali Deri's personal appeal

The bereaved mother Lali Deri appealed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot, calling for the formation of a unity government, drawing on the shared pain of losing a son in war.

The bereaved mother Lali Deri, a member of the 'Amcha Yisrael' party that did not pass the electoral threshold, appealed today (Wednesday) to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot, calling for the formation of a unity government. In a personal post she wrote, Deri argued that the elections have returned Israel to a dead end, and that the responsibility for finding a solution now rests on the two leaders. Deri, who lost her son Saadia Yaakov Deri in battle in the Gaza Strip in June 2024, addressed Eisenkot out of the shared pain of bereaved parents, as Eisenkot's son, Gal Meir Eisenkot, fell in battle in December 2023. She compared the political rift to the story of Joseph and his brothers, and called on the leaders to enter the negotiation room and anchor agreements in a binding document. Deri emphasized that the continuation of the deadlock exacts a security and national price, and that "we did not choose you to explain to us why it is impossible."