Livni Party MK Yoel Hasson said Saturday evening that he would ask the
committee to disqualify Gimpel on the grounds that he had voiced
incitement to racism.
"The mask of the cool start-up guy has been ripped from the face of
[Bayit Yehudi chairman Naftali] Bennett," the Livni Party said. "The
strange list that he is taking to the Knesset seeks to inflame the
Middle East and to bring on a third World War with its crazy visions of
building a temple."
Bayit Yehudi leader Nafatali Bennett also defended Gimpel, saying
that the video showed a Bible lesson, and was not a call to blow up the
Temple Mount. Bennett expressed frustration that reports about him and
his list came out on Shabbat when they could not respond.
"I'm very proud of my list and I'm proud of Jeremy Gimpel," Bennett said.
Bennett
accused Prime Minister Netanyahu
of launching an offensive against the national religious
public in an unusually harsh statement at Channel 2's "Meet the Press."
"Mr. Prime Minister, your name is on this campaign and it reminds me of what was done to you after Rabin's
murder when you were linked to a demonstration in Ra'anana which
involved a coffin portrayed as Rabin's coffin," Bennett said.
Bennnett accused the prime minister of
"launching an ugly campaign against the national religious public of
unprecedented proportions. He takes a person likes Moti Yogev, a company
commander at Sayeret Matkal, a battalion commander at the Paratroopers'
Brigade and makes him out to be narrow minded."
Directly addressing Netanyahu he added, "Do you really stand behind
this rift you have created at the expense of the amazing national
religious public, how do you do it Mr. Prime Minister?"
The
Likud-Beitenu said in response, "With his hysteric performance, Bennett
tried to divert attention away from his list and to that end he was
willing to embarrassingly attack the prime minister, whom he himself put
on his billboard ads. It's sad that to hide his list and mislead the
public, Bennett has stooped so low."