Israeli Democratic Party leadership candidate Nimrod Shapir admitted Tuesday evening that text messages disparaging himself originated from his own campaign headquarters, directly contradicting the earlier narrative that rival Ronen Tzor was behind the smear. Shapir apologized to Tzor, saying "this is not the spirit I want to bring to politics," according to Amit Segal (N12).
Nimrod Shapir, a retired IDF major general and candidate for the leadership of the Democrats party, confessed Tuesday evening that his own campaign staff sent text messages disparaging him, according to a report by Amit Segal (N12). The admission reverses the original account — first reported by Segal just minutes earlier — which suggested rival Ronen Tzor's camp was behind the smear campaign, apparently to make voters reject Tzor.
Shapir said he personally apologized to Tzor and disavowed the tactic: "This is not the spirit I want to bring to politics." The about-face deepens the scandal surrounding the internal party race, as Democrats members prepare to vote in primaries. It remains unclear who within Shapir's team authorized the messages or what consequences might follow within the party.
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Source and signal
- Internal intake