MK Gafni: Israel should have sent condolences to Poland after Shabbat

Finance Committee Chairman MK Moshe Gafni lashed out against the decision to send condolences to Poland immediately following the plane tragedy, rather than waiting for Shabbat to end.

“There was no need to hastily issue a message of condolences in a way that disparages Israel, since it was sent in the middle of Shabbat,” he said. “The Jewish people take all necessary measures on Shabbat in cases of imminent danger, but must uphold it when there is no such exigency, as in this case. The heads of state scorned and desecrated Shabbat unnecessarily.”

Russian state television reported the Tu-154 jet crashed in heavy fog shortly before 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. President Lech Kaczynski and dozens of Polish officials were killed in the accident.

Gafni said “the world would have understood that a Jewish state issues condolences only after Shabbat ends. It was a [further] tragedy to act in this manner.”

Tags: Israel, Kaczynski, plane, Poland