Lapid feels unwell at family dinner
Shinui leader feels sick during dinner with family; Paramedics examine him and describe him to be in good condition
Magen David Adom paramedics, who were called to the scene, examined the opposition leader and described him to be in good condition.
Paramedics denied earlier reports that Lapid had collapsed during the festive family gathering. “Lapid felt unwell. He was treated by paramedics who arrived at his house. He did not collapse and he is in good condition,” a paramedic told Ynet.
“Everything is fine. You can call him and hear him singing celebratory songs,” the paramedic added.
In a phone conversation with Ynet Lapid said: “You are interrupting my chants. Reports like these are a sign of long life, and seriously, I returned from the United States with a cold and for a second I didn’t feel good. They called an ambulance, yet by the time the paramedics arrived I was already singing with the family. It is impossible to hide something from you.”
The 74-year-old Holocaust survivor had recently returned from a trip in the U.S. with members of the Knesset’s Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee.
On his return to Israel on Saturday evening Lapid lashed out at Prime Minister Ariel Sharon accusing him of currying favor with Haredi parties when he persuaded Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer to stop construction works on the Ganot Junction on Shabbats.
“The prime minister’s bribes for Haredi parties in the form of endorsing the halt of construction works on the Ganot Junction Saturdays is a warning that he is taking a step back to the period of Haredi blackmail,” Lapid said.
“Shinui put an end to Haredi political blackmail when it was in government. Sharon’s people spoke of the possibility of a new centrist party yet it seems the prime minister has his face turned to the black side of Israel’s political spectrum,” the Shinui leader said, sarcastically referring to the black clothes worn by the ultra-Orthodox. (Mital Yasur Beit-Or contributed to this report)
