Chairman Avigdor Liberman of the Yisrael Beytenu Party has responded to the fierce attack by Bezalel Smotrich's fierce attack on the judicial system over a court ruling on gender segregation at a concert in Afula by saying, "Smotrich You were confused. Afula is not Mea She'arim."
Writing on Facebook, Liberman continued, "If we thought for a moment that Tisha B'Av would cause Bezalel Smutrich to think a little about his plans to return the State of Israel to King David's day, we would be wrong. The Transportation Minister's crazy response to the cancellation of the segregated event in Afula and the demand that unification of the right-wing parties together with the haredim will allow entry to a government with a law that will ensure that Israel becomes a halakhic state is the reason that Yisrael Beytenu will not sit in a government with Smotrich, [Rafi] Peretz and the haredim. We must restore the state of Israel to normalcy."