David Amsalem slams protesters, Ashkenazi Israelis in Knesset

Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem (Likud) criticized Israeli protesters abroad and Ashkenazi Israelis at home on Tuesday.

“You crossed every redline,” he said about the protesters during a Knesset plenum session. “You’re dragging the State of Israel into the abyss. You make all this mess and then tell us we’re not responsible. You destroy democracy, and we’re to blame?”

Amsalem cited a photo of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a prisoner’s uniform on Alcatraz Island, site of a federal prison, as he landed in San Francisco on Monday.

“You disgust me; you’re a disgrace,” he said. “Whoever did that harmed the security of the State of Israel.”

Amsalem also criticized Ashkenazi Israelis, saying he would not live a life where he was a second-rate citizen in comparison. He has made similar statements in the past, even accusing Netanyahu of discriminating against Mizrahim when forming his government.

Amsalem, whose parents made aliyah from Morocco, likened Ashkenazi Israelis to the South African apartheid regime in the second half of the 20th century.

“In South Africa, the white people lost,” he said.

Amsalem criticizes Netanyahu's comments to Elon Musk

Amsalem also criticized Netanyahu’s comments to Elon Musk on Monday.

While explaining the judicial reform to Musk, Netanyahu said he thought the law to cancel the reasonableness clause was bad when it was proposed – an opinion he had not expressed before it was passed in the Knesset in July.

The law sought to “reject one imbalance by creating another imbalance,” Netanyahu said, adding that “it was a mistake.”

Amsalem said he disagreed and pledged that the coalition would continue to advance judicial reform.

“The reform presented by [Justice Minister Yariv] Levin is the beginning of the reform,” Amsalem said. “The State of Israel is not a democratic state, and we want to make it democratic.”

This difference of opinion reflects what has been going on in the coalition over the last couple of weeks after a compromise outline was leaked to the media.

But while disagreeing with Netanyahu on this position, Amsalem defended the prime minister’s strong stance against Israelis protesting against him abroad.