Opposition head and Yesh Atid Chair Yair Lapid sparked controversy after his remarks regarding National Missions Minister Orit Strock during a Sunday interview with Israeli comedian Dor Kahn.
The backlash for Lapid's statement came after he slammed Strock in the interview, saying, "I look at Orit Strock. Just for that, I deserve a raise."
In response to the statement, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich backed fellow faction member Strock, writing in an X/Twitter post, "Yair, you’re confused. The poison machine is your Twitter account, and deceitful manipulations are what come out of your mouth when you’re not busy with a misogynistic attack on minister Strock—one of the best politicians Israel has known. Apologize."
יאיר התבלבלת, מכונת הרעל זה חשבון הטוויטר שלך ומניפולציות שיקריות זה מה שאתה מוציא מהפה כשאתה לא עסוק במתקפה מיזוגנית כלפי השרה סטרוק, מהטובות שידעה הפוליטיקה הישראלית.תתנצל.
— בצלאל סמוטריץ' (@bezalelsm) March 2, 2025
Former national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also criticized Lapid for his statement writing in an X post, "Amazing how the 'enlightened camp' supported for years an empty, ignorant, and mainly foolish person like Yair Lapid, who objectifies and harms women."
יאיר התבלבלת, מכונת הרעל זה חשבון הטוויטר שלך ומניפולציות שיקריות זה מה שאתה מוציא מהפה כשאתה לא עסוק במתקפה מיזוגנית כלפי השרה סטרוק, מהטובות שידעה הפוליטיקה הישראלית.תתנצל.
— בצלאל סמוטריץ' (@bezalelsm) March 2, 2025
In response to the criticism, Lapid later posted a response in defense of his statement to X.
Lapid's response
"I see that the poison machine is really rattled because I said I struggle to look at Orit Strock. No amount of deceitful manipulations will help them. Everyone understood that I was talking about her conduct, not about her appearance," Lapid wrote.
"It's a shame I didn't see such outrage when Orit Strock said that we should give up on the hostages and abandon them to die. I'm waiting for Strock's apology," he concluded.
אני רואה שמכונת הרעל ממש נרעשת מזה שאמרתי שאני מתקשה להסתכל על אורית סטרוק. לא יעזרו להם כל המניפולציות השיקריות. כל אחד מבין שדיברתי על ההתנהלות שלה ולא על איך שהיא נראית. חבל שלא ראיתי זעזוע כזה כשאורית סטרוק אמרה שצריך לוותר על החטופים ולהפקיר אותם למותם. מחכה להתנצלות של…
— יאיר לפיד - Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) March 2, 2025
Strock's controversial past comments on hostages
Strock recently sparked controversy regarding her comments on the hostages held in Hamas captivity. She had stated that winning the war is more important than bringing back every hostage during an interview with Amit Segal at Arutz Sheva's Jerusalem conference last week.
“The truth is that in your eyes, winning the war—I'm not saying this judgmentally—is more important than bringing back the last hostage,” Segal told Strock in the interview.
“I agree, winning the war is more important,” Strock confirmed, adding that this had been the Israeli consensus for a decade.