Member of Knesset Einat Wilf (Labor) said Tuesday morning that Israel was "at the height of the third intifada". Responding to the verbal attack on Ambassador Michael Oren during a speech at the University of California's Irvine campus, Wilf explained, "This is an intifada based on intellectual attacks, not on this or that government policy, but the essence of the legitimacy of the Zionist enterprise and the right of Israel to exist as the national home of the Jewish people in the land of Israel."

Wilf, who replaced Ofer Pines a month ago, added, "While we dedicate many resources to defense from physical threats on the state's existence, the government of Israel and the foreign ministry have not even begun to prepare appropriately for defense on the intellectual front."