Netanyahu, Herzog weigh in on Kotler speech

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joins the critics who slammed Israeli actor Oded Kotler for his speech on Sunday where he called right-wing voters “cud-chewing cattle.”

Speaking at a Likud faction meeting, Netanyahu says: “We are a democracy that cares about human rights as well as freedom of expression. The law clearly defends the freedom of expression, and anyone has the right to say what they feel and create as they feel. But there is no preordained right to receive public funding, and I suggest we maintain the distinction betyween these two things. We must preserve our unity and this also by dialogue between opinions which are contradictory.”

Zionist Union leader and opposition head Isaac Herzog also addresses the issue during a faction meeting of his party, saying: “We will never be able to convince anyone that the path we walk is the right one, if we do not rejoice in the multicultural nature of this country, an Israel with many colors, opinions, customs and systems of belief.”

Herzog adds that he “boos the ugly words, and boos every person who clapped to the sound of these ugly words.”