MKs across party lines slam Haredi extremist attack on Shas lawmaker

Both coalition and opposition lawmakers harshly denounce this evening’s attack on Shas Yoav Ben-Tzur by ultra-Orthodox extremists, describing it as unacceptable and contrary to Torah values.

Extremists smashed the front window of Ben-Tzur’s car in Jerusalem as he left a Torah lesson. The attack was reportedly motivated by anger over his party’s apparent backing of a bill to regulate ultra-Orthodox enlistment.

“I condemn in the strongest terms the attack on MK Yoav Ben-Tzur. This is not the way of the Torah, this is not the way of the State of Israel; these violent criminals must be dealt with severely,” tweets Opposition Leader Yair Lapid.

The attack constitutes “a serious crossing of the line and a blatant attempt to intimidate public officials,” declares Likud MK Boaz Bismuth, whose Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is currently debating the controversial legislation.

“Sensitive issues, such as military conscription, will be discussed in the proper forum, with serious dialogue, careful consideration, and democratic decisions. Not in the street, and not under threats from extremists,” he adds.

Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman blames the violence on the longstanding exemption enjoyed by Haredi yeshiva students, which was struck down by the High Court of Justice last year, arguing that “when a person is conditioned to idleness and draft-dodging, he becomes violent when someone tries to take that idleness away from him.”