Netanyahu Apologises After Calling Israeli Olympic Medalist on Shabbat

Israel's Linoy Ashram won the individual all-around final of the rhythmic gymnastics event during the Tokyo Olympic Games on Saturday.

Ex-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has apologised to ultra-Orthodox lawmakers after he called gymnast Linoy Ashram to congratulate her on winning a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and issued a public statement on Saturday during Shabbat.

"I am very careful to keep Shabbat. My staff is very diligent, but they did not understand that what applied as prime minister, applies now as well. These things will not change. I say this out of respect for Shabbat, out of respect for the Jewish nation", Bibi said.

The former prime minister, who is not religious, had always avoided publicly breaking Shabbat, which happens each week from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday, during his time in office.

לינוי — ריגשת מדינה שלמה! אין כמוך. דגל ישראל מתנוסס גם אצלך בלב וגם למעלה מעל המעצמות הכי גדולות בעולם. התקשרתי גם למירי רגב והודיתי לה כך שהכפילה פי 3 את הסיוע הכלכלי לאלופים שלנו כדי להבטיח שננצח. שבוע טוב לעם ישראל! pic.twitter.com/NM8aPi7Fuh

— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) August 7, 2021

Orthodox Jews refrain from receiving or making phone calls during Shabbat.

Netanyahu's party Likud had earlier apologised for his putting out a statement congratulating the Olympic gold medalist during Shabbat, claiming it was released due to a "technical error".

"Likud [has] always safeguarded the honour of Shabbat and made sure not to publish statements to the press during Shabbat, and thus we will continue to act", the party says.

The former prime minister had been under fire from ultra-Orthodox parties allied with his Likud, who noted that "it's forbidden to put out a statement desecrating Shabbat".

"The Olympic Games are not an act of saving a life... [...] I'm happy that the president and prime minister waited until the end of Shabbat, as Mr Netanyahu should have also done", United Torah Judaism MK Ganfi said.

Fellow UTJ MK Yaakov Litzman also blasted Netanyahu, saying there was no "real need" for him to elease the statement on Shabbat.

"It's expected of someone with an official state title to respect the Sabbath day, as the president and prime minister did in this case", Litzman added.

Shas chief Aryeh Deri stated that the ex-PM's move "hurt a great many Shabbat-observing Jews and hurt his loyal partners for whom the holy Shabbat is very dear to their hearts".

Meanwhile, the head of the Knesset caucus for observing Shabbat, Shas MK Moshe Abutbul, has since issued a statement stressing that Netanyahu should have been more respectful, given that "the majority of his political partners are Sabbath observers" who expect him to "respect the values of Jewish heritage".

Israeli rhythmic gymnast Linoy Ashram won the gold medal in the women's rhythmic individual all-around final at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday, scoring 107.800 points. Ashram became the first woman in Israel's history to win Olympic gold.