Knesset Member Zahava Gal-On (Meretz) charged in the Knesset Tuesday that "democracy in Germany collapsed because it allowed its enemies on the extreme right to exploit it." She made the comment during a debate on a bill to provide amnesty for demonstrators who were arrested during protests against the Disengagement program that ended with the expulsion of Jewish residents of the northern Samaria and Gaza regions.
The bill passed first reading following a stormy debate between MK Gal-On and National Union MK Zevulun Orlev. She stated that "for years Israel has ignored the crimes of the right." MK Orlev replied, "You have gone mad, you have crossed all red lines. It is inconceivable for an MK to stand up in the Knesset plenum and say that the Israeli right behaves like the Weimar parliament that raised Hitler to power."