MK Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party is considering filing a police complaint against
a rabbi who threatened Lapid and compared him to an animal, a party official
said Thursday night.
Veteran Channel 1 religious affairs correspondent
Uri Revach exclusively broadcast a clip Thursday night from Rabbi Eyal Amrami,
the rabbi of a Sephardi synagogue in Jerusalem’s Har Homa neighborhood,
threatening Lapid.
“If [Lapid] continues what he is doing, God forbid, he
has to know his career in the Jewish world is simply over,” Amrami said in the
clip. “He will no longer be a part of the Jewish people. There will be no
difference between him and an animal. If someone touches someone’s eye, they
respond immediately and protect themselves.”
Yesh Atid responded that “It
is unfortunate that there are those who are trying to drag down the legitimate
dispute over how to equalize the burden of service to threats that can lead to
people getting hurt.”
Lapid said he was not worried about such threats
and he would “continue to lead the effort to equalize the burden of service,
knowing that the citizens of the country must obey the law.”
Shas
officials said Amrami was not connected to the party in any way. Amrami has made
extremist statements in the past about religious Zionists.
This was not
the first time a rabbi attacked Lapid. Last Saturday night Shas spiritual leader
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef called Lapid contemptible and warned against including him in
the coalition.