The Knesset today held a heated debate following Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's decision to hand to the Shas party chairmanship over the committee for appointing rabbinical judges or dayanim.
Yamina MK Betzalel Smotrich deplored the decision and leveled a direct attack at the Prime Minister: "Netanyahu is so contemptuous of the worldview and religious Zionism."
"The Prime Minister says that religious Zionism is important to him. What did he do to its representatives in his party?", Smotrich berated. "Netanyahu held religious Zionism - its path, including its rabbis, its people, and its teachings in contempt," he added.
MK Ayelet Shaked addressed Minister Tzipi Hotovely from the plenum and told her, "You're deceiving religious Zionism. You told the public, 'Don't worry, I'll take care of religious Zionism.' How do you give the committee for appointing dayanim to the haredim? It's a disgrace."
Shaked confronted Shas Knesset Members Moshe Abutbul and Yinon Azoulay who were furious at her words. Azoulay flung at her: "You have the nerve to come here and talk about the haredim? You know how fair we are with you; we're the ones who care about you."