Avigdor Liberman slams Peretz, Smotrich for 'messianic phenomenon'
The former defense minister said, "If we do not wake up in time, the State of Israel will turn into a state of religious law and we will pay a very heavy price for this messianic phenomenon."
By TAMAR URIEL-BEERIAvigdor Liberman (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman slammed Union of Right-wing Parties (URP) members, Education Minister Rafi Peretz and MK Bezalel Smotrich, on Saturday afternoon in a Facebook post saying that they are part of a "messianic phenomenon" for which the state will pay "a very heavy price."Liberman wrote that "many years ago, a false messiah rose up in Israel, Sabbatai Zevi. Today, the Sabbatean movement is resurrected in the form of [Peretz] and [Smotrich], people who want us to return to the times of King Saul and King David and the law of the Torah."Liberman accused Smotrich and Peretz of believing that "secular people are evil, the enlightenment movement and the emancipation are failures" and stated that they are "waiting for the moement they can turn the universities in Israel into prophetic schools."The former defense minister said, "That is why I propose to [Peretz] and [Smotrich], who are members of the political-security cabinet, to download a photo of Harav Kook and switch it with the photo of Sebbatai Zevi."If we do not wake up in time, the State of Israel will turn into a state of religious law and we will pay a very heavy price for this messianic phenomenon."This is not the first time Liberman has spoken out against the right-wing religious party members. In July, Liberman also took to Facebook to ask Israelis if they wish to live in "A Jewish state, or a halakhic state in which a group of delusional rabbis will impose a religious coercion, extort the government and determine our way of life according to the laws of King David or King Saul."He has also criticized the conservative wing of the religious-Zionist community, saying its political parties have been taken over by extremists and that religious pre-military academies were creating "religious private militias within the IDF."
