Liberman panned for calling Netanyahu ‘autistic’

The Ruderman Family Foundation, a nonprofit that often advocates for the disabled, is none too pleased with Avigdor Liberman, the erstwhile foreign minister, who earlier Thursday used the word “autistic” as a pejorative term to describe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ostensible support for a Palestinian state.

Liberman, who heads the opposition Yisrael Beytenu party, was berating Netanyahu for his intention to meet with the head of the United (Arab) List, Ayamn Odeh, whom he accused of granting legitimacy to “terror supporters.”

“I call on Member of Knesset Avigdor Lieberman to apologize for using the term ‘autistic’ as an insult directed at Prime Minister Netanyahu,” the Ruderman Family Foundation says in a statement. “Millions of people around the world and thousands of people in Israel are autistic.

“By using the word ‘autistic’ as an insult, MK Lieberman has deeply hurt the autism community,” the statement read. “The term for a disability should never be used in a crude and derogatory manner.

“If Mr. Lieberman had an autistic child, how would he like it if his child heard a highly visible public figure like himself use autism as cudgel against an adversary?”