Religious extremism and intolerance of liberal Judaism has spread from the ultra-Orthodox and ultra-nationalist parties into the mainstream of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party, MK Gilad Kariv said on the Haaretz Podcast.
"This is not the Likud that we knew 10 or 20 years ago," he said. "Any attempt to differentiate the Likud from the Israeli extreme religious right is a false attempt."
Kariv, a rabbi and former leader of Israel's Reform movement, is a member of the Democrats Party. He spoke to podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer shortly after he was ejected from a Knesset committee when he dared to mention that his daughter prays with tefillin – the leather scrolls and straps that Jews wrap around themselves in prayer.
Galit Distel Atbaryan, the Likud member presiding over the session told Kariv, "If you conduct a bar mitzvah for a dog, I will come and celebrate." She then ordered that the "Reform man" be removed because "The Jews here want to continue."
Kariv also discussed growing concerns that Israel's next election may not be fully democratic, pointing to calls in Netanyahu's camp to disqualify Arab parties and weaken judicial oversight.
