'You will not burn down the country': Bereaved father criticizes anti-government protests

• Published date: 02 April 2024
• Author: WALLA!
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

In an interview on 103FM radio, Lober responded to the ongoing events: "You will not burn down the country. If I have to fight you, I will. Millions of people look at you in shock, and they only remain silent out of respect."

"When I stood in front of the open grave of my son Yonatan, I swore on his grave that neither I nor others could go back to October 6. Of course we will continue to disagree. I do not speak on the essence, but rather the tone that much change. When Saturday nights come around and I see these protests, it feels like another knock at my door. People are making a huge mistake, they think that because they are in pain, they are allowed to destroy the country. Instead, we will establish a moral and valuable force. It has already risen, and this force comes from the masses that will not resort to the same methods that I am speaking out against."

According to Lober, "this nation has moral, values. At the next demonstration where they block roads, I will stand there with a big sign with Yonatan's picture and I will ask them, 'Did Yonatan die in vain?' And if they want to come down and block the roads, let them do it over my body, let them run over me, let them kill me, let me join Yonatan. It will not happen in this country."

"I spoke with those from 'Brothers in Arms.' They sat at my house at the shiva [mourning period] and told me never again, and that they still think that Bibi is a danger to humanity, to the entire universe, but that they would not return to that path. And now, they are writing to me that they are right. They were polite for two, three, four months before the change. What a shame and disgrace that is."

"Who are they fighting against? Against me. It's not Bibi, it's very easy to say Bibi. It's avoidance."

When speaking of Brothers in Arms, Lober said they are "against me. Against a bereaved father who voted for the right. In my opinion, Yonatan was killed because of the Oslo Accords. Yonatan was a young child during the disengagement and we were dragged away like...