A leader of the protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was filmed Wednesday night likening Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
Sadi Ben Shitrit, one of the leading figures in the "Crime Minister" protest movement, is seen in a video shared on social media holding a microphone during a demonstration outside Defense Minister Benny Gantz' home in Rosh HaAyin and blasting the premier for filing a restraining order against him.
"There is no forgiveness for a crook, there is no forgiveness for destruction and abuse against us, the citizens," Ben Shitrit said. "In the 1930s, there was an enemy of the Jews, he was in Germany, and he behaved just like you."
Ben Shitrit is a cousin of Internal Security Minister Amir Ohana and is considered a prominent activist in the protest against Netanyahu. He was also interviewed regarding the protests several times on various television channels. He has been arrested in the past and later claimed that the Jerusalem police were deliberately acting against him.
This is not the first time a protester has come under fire after making harsh statements against Netanyahu and his family.
A protester named Haim Shadmi was interrogated by police in May of this year after he had threatened Netanyahu's son, Yair.
Shadmi was documented as saying, "we know why you need security guards. One day you won't have guards around you and you can't know what will happen."
Defense Minister Gantz released a condemnation of Ben Shitrit's words.
"I strongly condemn the despicable comparison made between Netanyahu and the tyrant Adolf Hitler," Gantz said in response. "There is no place in Israeli society for such comparisons that desecrate the memory of the Holocaust. Even if there are serious disagreements with Netanyahu's path, this is not the way to express it."