The unfitting behavior of Israel’s transportation minister

Has Israel’s transportation minister, Miri Regev, just disqualified herself as a public servant worthy of continuing her position?

The story was so shocking that a friend of mine advised me to make sure it really happened before I wrote about it. As I checked other sources, besides my morning paper whose front page headlines read: “Regev tells driver to run into guard at security check,” I saw that the story was also reported in the Times of Israel, Haaretz, Virtual Jerusalem, World Israel News and Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel’s leading Hebrew newspaper.

It didn’t take long for Hamal, the government information site, whose app most of us have on our phones, to leak an audio of Regev, telling her driver to continue driving. His response was, “I can’t, I’ll run over the guard.” Nonetheless, she kept yelling, “drive,” “drive,” “drive.” The recording was made available through a dashcam footage where Regev’s voice was unmistakably heard shouting at her driver. 

"תיסע, תיסע", צועקת השרה מירי רגב על הנהג שלה, כשאנשים עומדים לפני המכונית. איבוד שליטה מוחלט. שמישהו יעיר אותי מהסיוט של הממשלה הזאתhttps://t.co/GIJlzTvBxm pic.twitter.com/zptQvr4MMv

— Yifat Reuven (@reuven_yifat) September 5, 2023

Although there is a claim by Regev’s office that the security guard had acted in a hostile manner towards her and her driver, it’s hardly justifiable to hear her over and over instructing the driver to run him down. Shin Bet security services reported that the leg of one of their agents was injured as a result of the driver’s actions and “rejects the allegations of any violence by the agent.”

Known for her extremely confrontational style, Miri Regev is no stranger to controversy, often making headlines for her very provocative statements. In 2021, she received a lot of push back for her comment about the “white DNA” of the party’s leadership. Her point was that “Most of Likud’s senior members, who are chosen in internal primaries, are of Ashkenazi (European) descent.” Regev, who was born to a Moroccan father and Spanish mother, does not match that particular ethnic profile. 

In May 2022, once again, a recording was leaked in which she stated that “the opposition should vote against legislation that benefits violence victims and disadvantaged populations.” Her hope was both to bring down the government, as well as do her best to make sure it would not be credited for any “meaningful achievements.”

It was also at a Cannes Festival in 2017, when Regev, then-Israeli Minister of Culture, sported a dress, on the red carpet, which provoked Palestinians as it depicted the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock. Her message was loud and clear: “Jerusalem is our eternal capital.” 

The question, of course, is not the veracity of whether that’s fact or fiction. Most of us would not dispute its accuracy, but the real question is whether it’s prudent for a government minister to appear in a dress which, she had to know in advance, would more than ruffle a few feathers? Was her motive to promote unity or simply to call attention to herself? Not hard to figure that one out.

Wouldn’t the wiser thing be to always endeavor to seek a path which endeavors to advance peace, understanding and coexistence through diplomacy? Yet, Regev has never been once to mince words. Despite her Sephardic roots, she seems to live by the old Yiddish adage: “What’s on your lung is on your tongue.”

A good example of that was in 2019 when, just days after clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque site, she made the comment, “We will soon pray there.”

Does anyone think that such comments are helpful in keeping the peace between Jews and Arabs? 

There are many things that Israeli Jews hope and pray for, as it regards our nation, especially as it concerns the return of our people to their promised land. However, many of those unrealized desires are best left unspoken by our leaders and politicians, because they don’t do a lot to advance our cause with those who don’t share our sentiments. 

Igniting conflict is all too easy, and should be avoided, because Israel is already the Jewish homeland and has been for 75 years. No one has to rub it in the face of others in a way that provokes them to anger and rage.

If anything, a much better approach would be to emphasize to our local Israeli Arab population and neighboring countries all of the blessings and benefits which the nation of Israel has provided for them, as well as the entire world, through our technological, medical and other industrial advances. Such a reminder might serve to engender gratitude and appreciation from them rather than to look at us as provocateurs who want to lord our superior position over them. 

Miri Regev doesn’t seem to value that kind of thinking and, while she is known for her candid and often unwise remarks, telling her driver to run over another human being has to go down as the worst of all her indiscretions. 

Her unfitting behavior, as a government representative, needs to be addressed, because, needless to say, she is not the best and brightest among her Likud party members, all of whom should be a bit embarrassed by her ill-advised comments and imprudent actions. After all, she is not an island unto herself and is part of a team that suffers the repercussions of whatever she says and does.

She joins the ranks of others, among the coalition, whose impulsive words are the best advertisement for why a centrist government, which often seeks to garner good-will through compromise, is Israel’s best direction for all her citizens rather than just one segment of the population who have no qualms about riding roughshod over everyone else.

Miri Regev seems to be in need of a “time-out” in order to reflect on how others perceive her, because if our citizens were polled, it's likely she would be quite shocked to see just how many don’t respect her or feel that she is representing our country in a worthy manner.

Miri, if you’re listening, we’re approaching the days of reflection. Maybe you could take that to heart and see how you might improve, both as a government minister and also as an individual who takes into consideration that leadership is best performed when accompanied with the provision of good personal example.