MK Ram Ben Barak (Yesh Atid), who heads the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, on Saturday compared the rise of a right-wing government to that of Adolf Hitler.
"Hitler rose to power in a democratic fashion," Ben Barak said at a Shabbatarbut (political and cultural forums that take place on the Sabbath) event in Be'er Sheva. "The first thing that he did was to cancel the Supreme Court. Afterwards he legislated all of his laws."
"We need to preserve the democracy. The joining of [MK Bezalel] Smotrich and [MK Itamar] Ben-Gvir's anti-democratic party with a person who is willing to do anything in order to remain in power is dangerous. We need to prevent that."
Ben Barak said that he would recognize a government formed with Ben-Gvir, but emphasized, "I am a democrat. Do I think that this isn't the beginning of the end? If G-d forbid we hurt the democratic institutions and make the law unnecessary, then with a majority of 61 [MKs] we can legislate any law. The fact that we are a democracy is not to be taken for granted."
Later, Ben Barak responded to the storm he had raised, by tweeting: "Let it be clear: I am not comparing, and will never compare, anyone in the State of Israel and the world to Hitler. The attempt to present this as a comparison is incorrect and I am sorry if someone is trying to present it as such."