Pinning a yellow star -- the symbol of Jewish slavery to the Nazi murderers of World War II -- on the chest of a child in order to make a point at Saturday night's protest by hareidi religious extremists went beyond the Pale, says government minister Yossi Peled.
Speaking in an interview Sunday morning, the minister-without-portfolio called the use of the Holocaust imagery by the demonstrators in Jerusalem's hareidi religious neighborhood of Mea Shearim "craziness" and a "loss of sanity. There are things that are just unimaginable," he said.
"It doesn't matter if the struggle is just or not -- there are just things that are illogical, and immoral."
Nearly 400 demonstrators had gathered at Shabbat Square to protest what they said was oppression and incitement against them by the media and the government. Adult men, as well as boys, were wearing the Nazi yellow stars pinned to their chests, with the word "Jude" written in the center, and waving signs that said "Zionism is racism," and "Zionists are not Jews."
Kadima MK Yoel Hasson also condemned the protesters' actions Sunday morning, vowing to find a way to prevent others from doing the same.
Hasson said he would introduce a bill in the Knesset to prohibit the cynical use of the Nazi yellow star, the "Nazi" curse, and the wearing of clothes that depict Jewish prisoners in Nazi death camps.
Peled told the interviewer, "My blood froze when I saw the pictures. They have lost something in their value systems. It seems that anything is allowed today. We no longer have any shame."
Shas spiritual leader and former Israel Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef spoke out against the ongoing extremist violence in his sermon on Shabbat, saying, "There are hareidim carrying out forbidden acts, that our Torah forbids. They must be denounced."