Likud MK calls court guard ‘Judenrat’ after being ejected from Qatargate hearing

Ugly scenes unfolded in the Lod – Central District Court on Tuesday, as incendiary Likud MK Tally Gotliv compared a security guard who forcibly ejected her from a hearing on the Qatargate affair to Jews who implemented Nazi instructions under duress during the Holocaust.

Gotliv had persistently interrupted the proceedings, leading Judge Amit Michles to order her removed from the hearing.

The incendiary MK refused to leave, however, claiming she had parliamentary immunity. After she declined the requests of security guards to leave of her own accord, Gotliv was physically removed by the guards.

As she was ejected from the courtroom, Gotliv called the security guard who removed her “an animal,” and compared him to the “Judenrat,” the Nazi-established Jewish administrative councils that were forced to ensure Nazi orders were implemented.

Channel 12 subsequently reported that the security guard in question is a combat soldier and deputy company commander in the IDF reserves, and that his grandmother was a Holocaust survivor.

His mother told the news outlet that her son has served some 400 days in IDF reserve duty since the war with Hamas began following the October 7 atrocities, and called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to condemn Gotliv’s remarks.

The MK’s comments were roundly condemned across the political spectrum, including by Likud’s Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, as well as the leaders of the opposition, although not by Netanyahu.

Levin said Gotliv’s comments were “a great disgrace” and showed “contempt for the Holocaust,” adding that the controversial MK was repeatedly embarrassing the Likud party with her conduct.

“MK Gotliv’s behavior, her lack of respect and lack of collegiality toward the prime minister, cabinet ministers and her party members, her attacks against loyal Likud members who carried the movement on their backs during its difficult days, and the provocations she makes as her modus operandi — all of these do tremendous damage to Likud as we approach an election year,” Levin said. “MK Gotliv, stop embarrassing us! Apologize!”

National Unity leader Benny Gantz said Gotliv should be ashamed of herself, called on her to apologize, and described the MK as an example “of the extremes that are filling the Knesset of Israel.”

The Judicial Authority issued a statement, backing the court security guards and calling on them to maintain public order in the courts.

“The Judicial Authority strongly condemns the behavior and words of MK Gotliv, and will not tolerate any attempt to harm the proper course of hearings, or officials performing their duties,” the statement said.

ועכשיו עם התיעוד:

ח"כ טלי גוטליב לאיש משמר בתי המשפט שהוציא אותה מהדיון: "בהמה"

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איש המשמר: "אני עושה את העבודה שלי"

גוטליב: "זו לא העבודה שלך. גם ליודנרט היו" pic.twitter.com/RfYcWeLRCn

— רועי ינובסקי (@Roi_Yanovsky) August 19, 2025

Gotliv refused, however, to apologize, claiming again that she had been unlawfully removed from the courtroom by what she called “the court’s armed militia,” and saying that even if the security guard was an IDF reservist and descendant of a Holocaust survivor, it did not give him the right to “unlawfully” eject her.

Gotliv has repeatedly interrupted court proceedings over the last two years, including disrupting hearings in the High Court of Justice, and has been removed from courtrooms on multiple occasions.

Speaking to Channel 12, the security guard’s mother, Chani, said she had four sons and a son-in-law, and that one of them was always serving in IDF reserve duty at any given time.

“I really think that the leadership needs to get a grip on itself,” she said, adding that “the nation deserves better.”

She said that her mother, a Holocaust survivor, was very happy to live in the Jewish state and had always been proud of her grandsons.

“How can you say something like this?” she asked of Gotliv’s comments.

“I very much expect people to condemn this, especially Bibi [Netanyahu], who is prime minister and head of the Likud,” she continued, adding that Netanyahu knows the family personally.

Tuesday’s hearing in the Lod – Central District Court ended with Judge Michles ruling to extend the restrictive conditions on Jonatan Urich, a key aide to Netanyahu and a central suspect in the Qatargate scandal, until September 10, overturning a lower court decision.

Those restrictions include a ban on contacting other figures connected to the affair, and anyone working in the Prime Minister’s Office, including Netanyahu himself.