Singer Sparks Political Storm: "They Should Have Cut His Head Off"
A controversial statement by a well-known Hasidic singer against Avigdor Lieberman has caused an unprecedented uproar. The Yisrael Beiteinu party responded with a sharp condemnation of the incitement.
The Yisrael Beiteinu party launched a sharp attack yesterday against Hasidic singer Mordechai Ben David, following his remarks regarding party chairman Avigdor Lieberman during an interview in Yiddish for a podcast by journalist Shlomi Ziyantz.
The party's statement read:
"The Admor of Ribnitz (of blessed memory) would be ashamed that his name is being used to spread hatred and incite the murder of Avigdor Lieberman."
Yisrael Beiteinu further added: "This is a moral disgrace; proper conduct precedes the Torah."
The background to the confrontation is an interview published last Thursday, in which Mordechai Ben David addressed the claim that the Admor of Ribnitz (of blessed memory) served as Avigdor Lieberman's mohel during his childhood. During the conversation, the singer said: "Avigdor Lieberman claimed that the Admor was his mohel, maybe yes or maybe no." Immediately afterward, he added the sentence that sparked the storm: "I think he didn't cut in the right place. They should have cut his head off instead."
The podcast host was heard reacting with laughter to his words, but also clarified that despite Lieberman's attitude toward the religious public, he still holds a certain respect for the Rabbi. In response, Ben David said that there are pictures in which Lieberman is seen visiting the Admor's gravesite.
"Yes, there are also pictures that he was several times at the gravesite," Ben David said during the interview. He concluded his remarks with another statement regarding the Yisrael Beiteinu chairman: "It is happy to hear, I wish he would repent."
The remarks published in the interview spread rapidly on social media and sparked widespread discourse.
