Knesset member Iman Khatib-Yassin from the Ra'am party caused outrage and significant anger after stating in an interview that children were not massacred and women were not raped during Hamas's actions on the Seventh of October. She subsequently issued an apology for her comments, following calls for her resignation from members of her party.
Knesset member Iman Hatib Yasin from the Ra'am party appeared for an interview on the Knesset channel today (Sunday). During the interview, she responded to the interviewer's questions by stating, "They didn't slaughter babies, at least not according to the footage. And they didn't rape women." The Arab Ra'am party member added and declared regarding the events in the south that "we cannot ignore what happened before and what happened afterward."
Khatib's statements stirred significant outrage among many in the political sphere and on social media, in response to her remarks during the interview. It even led members of her own party to call for her resignation. The leadership of the Ra'am party and its Knesset members appointed by it called on Khatib to resign from the Knesset, stating that there is no place in their party for individuals expressing themselves in such a manner.
In response, MK Khatib issued an apology for her remarks during the interview in a statement to the media. Her apology reads as follows: "I made a mistake, and I apologize. I had no intention of diminishing or denying the horrifying events that occurred on the 7th of October and the terrible acts against women, children, and the elderly who were killed in the south. From the first day, I expressed a clear stance condemning and denouncing these heinous acts against Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel on that dark Saturday, and it is essential to emphasize this again, especially at this time."
As of the time of publication of Khatib's response, no statements from members of her party calling for her resignation have been published, nor have references been published on her behalf to her party's demand that she resign from her position in the Knesset.
