Israelis and American Jews who have been protesting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the United States are worse than the Palestinians or Iran, Likud MK Nissim Vatouri told KAN Reshet Bet on Tuesday morning.
Vatouri attempted to defend his faction and coalition leader's statement prior to his departure, in which he charged that protesters who planned to rally against his judicial reform plan were aligned with Iran and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).
"It is a fact that they are aligned with Iran and Palestinian-affiliated protest group[s]," the lawmaker claimed. They are worse than them."
"You can see they are destroying the State of Israel with these protests," Vatouri said. "Since when do Israeli citizens go abroad to protest a prime minister in this manner?" Vatouri charged.
Vatouri further claimed that "this is not the manner in which to attack Israel's leader, who as we speak is talking with other leaders from around the globe to discuss very serious security issues.
"This is not just a Likud-centered, right-wing issue," he continued. "This is an issue pertaining to all of the Jewish People. We must be united against our enemies."
'Netanyahu has declared war on Diaspora Jews'
Netanyahu's statement on Sunday evening prompted leaders of the UnXeptable movement to accuse him of declaring war on American Jewry.
"It's not enough that he is meeting with extremists who have harmed the Jewish community. He is putting the very lives of Israelis and the biggest Jewish communities in the world at risk," Shany Granot-Lubaton said in response.
She referred to Netanyahu’s meeting Monday in San Jose with X owner Elon Musk, who has threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League and refused to crack down on antisemitism on his social network.