United Torah Judaism Knesset Member Yakov Cohen was assaulted at the Knesset Tuesday by Attorney Amnon De Hartog following a heated argument during which the MK compared De Hartog to the Nazis.
“Even my father never hit me this way,” the stunned Cohen said. “He gave me a slap the likes of which I’ve never received before. My world went dark. I call on the justice minister to dismiss him.”
MK Cohen following incident (Photo: Amnon Meranda)
Following the incident, the Knesset's Presidency decided to ban for good De Hartog's entrance to the Knesset. The lawyer was also questioned by the police and then released under restrictive conditions. The police ruled that he was to have no contact with MK Cohen.
According to one eyewitness, the argument between the two erupted after they left an Education Committee meeting.
“MK Cohen told De Hartog, ‘You’re destroying the Torah world’. De Hartuch responded by saying, ‘You are a beast, shut your mouth’,” the witness recounted.
“Cohen then said, ‘You’re worse than the Germans; they wanted to destroy the body and you want to destroy the soul’. De Hartog said to him, ‘If you don’t shut up I’ll slap you’. Cohen replied, ‘I’m waiting’.”
At this point De Hartog slapped Cohen, the witness said. A Knesset guard who witnessed the exchange immediately apprehended De Hartog and took him to a nearby room.
A police official told Ynet, “Security guards at the Knesset detained a man suspected of slapping the MK. A squad car was dispatched to the scene and the suspect was taken in for questioning.”
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