Herzog appears to criticize Likud’s Distel Atbaryan for anti-Reform Judaism comments

President Isaac Herzog appears to criticize Likud MK Galit Distel Atbaryan after she ejected Labor MK Gilad Kariv from a Knesset committee meeting and snapped at the Reform rabbi that “the Jews here want to continue.”

Speaking with a delegation of LGBTQ+ Pride community leaders organized by the Jewish Federations of North America, Herzog emphasizes the importance of inclusion and equality in Israeli society and condemns what he describes as recent comments against prominent members of the Reform and LGBTQ+ communities in Israel.

“I condemn utterly any harassment or insult to our brothers and sisters – wherever they are – including recent comments in the Knesset,” Herzog declares.

Distel Atbaryan ejected Kariv from a discussion in the Subcommittee on Jewish Thought in the Education System after he mentioned that one of his two daughters was “meticulous about putting on tefillin.”

“I am sure that there will be a paragraph in the circular making clear that all students, as permitted in halacha, can do it,” he said, referring to a recent push by Education Minister Yoav Kisch to ensure that students can put on tefillin, also known as phylacteries, in Israeli schools.

“I don’t have the strength for these provocations,” Distel Atbaryan responded. “If you conduct a bar mitzvah for a dog, I will come and celebrate,” she added, apparently comparing holding a coming-of-age ceremony for an animal to a woman wrapping tefillin.

Kariv responded that the Likud MK “probably doesn’t understand anything about halacha or Jewish tradition,” gesturing toward her, and adding: “This is the face of Israeli tradition.”

“Please remove the reformer,” she retorted. “The Jews here want to continue.”