In a disturbing outburst that shocked viewers across Israel, former Member of Knesset and senior Yediot Acharonot journalist Miki Rosenthal made an inflammatory and violent remark on live television, targeting chareidi Jews who offer free tefillin to children.
The incident occurred Sunday evening during a panel discussion on Channel 13’s program War Zone. During the segment, host Baruch Kara presented a video circulating online, an ad from a charitable organization distributing tefillin free of charge to boys, specifically those from bereaved families.
Kara sarcastically criticized the ad, commenting with a smirk that he’d like to meet the scriptwriter, whose work, he claimed, was “not exactly seamless.”
Rosenthal, a panelist on the show and former Knesset member from the Labor Party, responded with a deeply offensive and violent comment that has since sparked a wave of backlash: “I would strangle him with tefillin.”
Despite immediate pushback from other panelists, Rosenthal doubled down on his statement, even physically demonstrating the act of strangling as he repeated the disturbing remark once again.
Fellow panelists, including journalist Uri Mashav, strongly objected to Rosenthal’s rhetoric. Even host Baruch Kara distanced himself, stating, “You went too far with that expression. The ad should be taken more humorously.”
The shocking comment has ignited outrage on social media and in the broader Jewish community, particularly among religious circles.
As of this writing, Rosenthal has not issued an apology.
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{Matzav.com Israel}