Netanyahu Shoves Party-Crashing Israeli Lawmaker — As He Snapped Trump Selfie

Image by Twitter

By Daniel J. Solomon May 22, 2017

Benjamin Netanyahu got a bit physical as President Trump arrived in Israel on Monday, attempting to push away a member of the Knesset attempting to take a selfie photo with the American leader on the tarmac at Ben-Gurion Airport.

Oren Hazan, a Likud backbencher, crashed the welcome ceremony to which the country’s senior leadership alone had been invited. As Trump shook hands with the cabinet ministers and Knesset members present, Hazan tried to grab a selfie with the president.

Netanyahu noticed the move and physically intervened to prevent him from doing so – attempting to push down Hazan’s arm. But Hazan got his selfie and a stern scolding from Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“The Foreign Ministry only invited A-list staff, meaning the State of Israel’s most senior figures,” spokesman Emmanuel Nahson told Haaretz.

“Unfortunately a few people who weren’t on the list of senior staff snuck into the line of hand-shakers and refused to leave despite being asked to do so by the Foreign Ministry.”

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.