Jewish Home Chairman and Economics Minister Naftali Bennett issued a sharp response to the political left Sunday, urging calm after heated demonstrations against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu erupted in Jerusalem Saturday night.
"I recently heard [declarations of] unprecedented incitement against the nationalist public," Bennett stated. 'They called us 'racists,' 'fascists,' a 'cancer,' 'Hitler,' at a demonstration yesterday."
"They called the Prime Minister an 'egomaniac,'" he continued. "Another speaker called on Jews of the United States to withdraw support for Israel, saying that it is no longer a democracy. One of Haaretz's senior writers wrote that 'it's time to start playing dirty.""
"You have derailed yourselves completely and no minister condemns you - not the Minister of Justice [Tzipi Livni - ed.], not anyone," he added.
"I say to the Left: Keep your cool," he continued. "Stop the calls [against us] in the streets. The Jewish State law is part of the coalition agreement and was always there, and it talks about a Jewish and democratic state. It is nothing new that has not been here for 67 years."
"What was not here is this dangerous incitement of the Left, which tries to keep its mouth shut over democratic moves," he thundered. "Gone are the days where incitement against the Right was met with silence. We will not be silent anymore."
"We are not ashamed to be right-wing, and we're not going to stop promoting what we believe in," he declared. "On the contrary: the rules do not change because of incitement against us in the streets."
Bennett's words follow both a heated coalition crisis over the Jewish State law and increasingly vocal opposition to the current government from Opposition parties.
These parties have resorted to statements to the media, bills proposing a fundamental change in election procedures, and yelling at right-wing MKs during Knesset hearings to channel their outrage over the law.
After weeks of Knesset tensions spilling over into the public sphere, Netanyahu stated earlier Sunday that "serious conclusions will be drawn" in the event the political tumult remains barely contained.