Morning show host to apologize on air for calling Haredi Jews ‘bloodsuckers’

TV host and model Galit Gutman will apologize on air for calling ultra-Orthodox Israeli Jews “bloodsuckers,” a major network says.

“How much burden can be placed on a third of this country in order to support all of these Haredi bloodsuckers, all these people who suck our blood?” she said Friday on the Channel 12 morning news show during a panel discussion about the government’s upcoming budget, drawing outrage.

The current government has allocated massive funds to the coalition’s right-wing and Orthodox parties as part of the latest budget, drawing criticism from the largely secular opposition parties.

“In light of the severity of Galit Gutman’s words… it was clarified this morning to Galit that remarks of this kind are entirely unacceptable in the broadcasting body,” says Keshet Media Group, the firm that manages the network, in a statement.

“Gutman, who has already apologized for the remarks, has asked to do this on air and to also clarify them to the show’s viewers. It has been agreed that she will do this at the start of her next show this Thursday,” the statement says.