MK Yaakov Asher (United Torah Judaism) on Wednesday mocked Yesh Atid leader MK Yair Lapid, who last week donned a kippah and participated in the “kippah march” in Berlin in response to anti-Semitism.
“We must not be mistaken. The semantics and the march are not Judaism. The wearing of the kippah is a symbol that, if there is no content poured into it, has no meaning. Wearing a kippah is a symbol and a sign of piety, wearing a kippah is testimony to the life of tradition, faith, Torah life that began thousands of years ago since the days of Abraham and the acceptance of the Torah,” said Asher at a Knesset discussion on rising anti-Semitism in Europe.
Asher also responded to Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s anti-Semitic speech in which he suggested the role of Jews in the banking sector led to the Holocaust.
“Abu Mazen described his speech as a ‘history lesson’. Indeed, it is a lesson on the history of mass propaganda against the Jewish people and it fits well with all the blood libels that have accompanied our people throughout history," he said.
The reason for Abbas’s comments, continued Asher, is his desire to delegitimize the Jewish people due to hatred and anti-Semitism.
"This is an old and familiar method that in the past succeeded in creating destructive propaganda against the Jewish people, but has not succeeded in wiping out the Jewish people for thousands of years despite repeated attempts to do so. It is clear that these same anti-Semites and racists hate us because we are different. We have laws and holidays and halakhot that we were declared a virtuous people because of which, and they do not accept any of this,” he said.