A heated confrontation erupted Tuesday in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee during a discussion on freezing the arrests of bnei yeshivos

During the debate, the kippah-wearing Yesh Atid MK Elazar Stern said, “How can you not hate the Chareidim when you see them in the Galil during Bein HaZemanim?”

The remark drew sharp reactions from the Chareidi MKs present at the meeting.

Shas MK Yinon Azoulay retorted, “I don’t recognize Jews who hate other Jews. If you hate Jews, your Judaism needs to be examined.”

MK Moshe Solomon (Religious Zionism) also interjected, saying: “It’s forbidden to hate Jews. Elazar, my friend, I think it is forbidden to hate Jews, no matter what.”

Stern was later heard saying: “I don’t hate people at all, not just Jews.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)