Israel Hayom's "Tomorrow's Conference" opened Tuesday at the International Convention Center in Ashkelon. The conference focuses challenges that emerged following the events of October 7th and the Iron Swords War, such as restoring a sense of security to residents of attacked communities, rehabilitating abandoned areas, strengthening the healthcare system, and providing solutions for children and youth left without organized educational frameworks.
Video: Bezalel Smotrich leaves Israel Hayom conference after heckling
However, amid loud calls from the audience, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was forced to leave the stage even before beginning his conversation with Israel Hayom's political correspondent Yehuda Shlezinger. As the minister took the stage, loud shouts were directed at him: "How do you sleep at night?"
"I'm from Dorot," one woman in the audience told the minister, recalling her Gaza-area community's horrific experience during and after the October massacre and kidnapping incidents. "Members of my community are being held captive. Minister, look at me, my name is Gal Pachovich. Your economic plan isn't even close to fixing what's happening here. You're a disgrace. Your son isn't enlisted but mine is. How can you sit here with a captives' pin when you don't see the reality we're living in - not economically, not security-wise, and not regarding the captives?"
When asked about the captives' situation, Smotrich responded, "On October 7, I decided never to return in any way to October 6. It takes two to have a dispute. I will no longer be the other side – if there is some small, extremist minority trying to drag Israeli society into division, evil, and hatred. Israeli society doesn't buy the hatred you're selling here." After these remarks, the loud shouts from the audience continued until the minister left the stage.
In a conversation with Itai Ilnai, Kibbutz Movement Secretary General Lior Simcha said: "Our role is to see how we gather the communities, return home. Until October 7,. the state forgot the importance of settlement - everything became economic. On October 7, the agreement was broken; in Nir Oz, no battle was fought – kibbutzim were destroyed. If we don't know how to return the captives, we can't talk about rehabilitation. The Tekuma plan is a good professional plan, but not a single home has been renovated in six months."
A panel titled "A Reviving Nation" is being moderated by Israel Hayom's political correspondent Shirit Avitan Cohen, featuring Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi and other participants.
