Ten cabinet ministers belonging to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party are slated to attend a Sukkot holiday event organized by party activist and convicted criminal Rafi Chaim-Kedoshim on Thursday in Herzliya.
According to the Haaretz daily, Defense Minister Israel Katz, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Culture Minister Miki Zohar, Housing Minister Haim Katz, Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem, Economy Minister Nir Barkat, Transportation Minister Miri Regev, Environment Protection Minister Idit Silman, Science and Technology Minister Gila Gamliel and Social Equality Minister May Golan will be in attendance.
Golan is currently at the center of a police graft probe.
The gathering, in memory of the 18th-century spiritual leader Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, will feature “prayers for the return of the hostages, music and a barbecue,” the report said.
Kedoshim, a member of the Kedoshim crime family, has served four prison sentences over convictions for acts of violence, kidnapping and extortion. He was also involved in cashing checks in the gray market. According to Channel 12 news, his last jail term was about 20 years ago.
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His son, Israel Kedoshim, was convicted in 2017 of being connected to the attempted murder of Eli Tabib, the former owner of the Beitar Jerusalem soccer club.
חידון לשבת: “וואלק חצי ממשלה הביא לפה” – מי האיש שהזניק את הקריירה הפוליטית שלו הערב? pic.twitter.com/qreWq9dRxw
— Arik Weiss אריק וייס (@arikweiss) September 11, 2023
Kedoshim has become a prominent figure in Likud’s Herzliya branch in recent years after signing up hundreds of new members to the party.
A number of senior Likud ministers previously gave their vocal backing to Kedoshim when he ran in the Herzliya municipal elections, with Israel Katz, Zohar, then-minister Galit Distel-Atbaryan, and others attending his campaign launch in September 2023.
Kedoshim was running at the head of the Likud slate for Herzliya City Council, and according to local reports, had his eye on a spot as deputy mayor.
“Let them write headlines,” Katz said in remarks at the event, in a video shared online, seemingly referencing the party’s support for a criminal. “There’s something to see here — a man who took his fate into his own hands is doing an act of kindness, a public activist… I’m proud to be here.”
Katz said he was speaking “in the name of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in the name of the government of Israel — we need a strong Likud in Herzliya.”
In his own comments at the event, Zohar suggested that the ex-con had “changed his ways,” and called on residents to vote for him.
Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar attends a ceremony for the Israeli Olympic and Paralympic delegation competing at the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris, at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on June 19, 2024. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)
“You have to give everyone a chance,” Zohar said in comments quoted by the Ynet news site. “Vote for Rafi, he’s worthy. There are people who get up from the not-simple situation he was in, and you have to give everyone a chance. Rafi is doing great work for the residents of the city.”
In his own comments, Kedoshim said that “because of my past, there is a future — there is a future for all the youth who have gotten caught up in criminal activity, whom I have been supporting for a decade.”
That March, Kedoshim hosted a Purim gathering attended by a number of Likud ministers, including Justice Minister Yariv Levin, which raised eyebrows at the time.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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