The Knesset plenum held a special debate today (Wednesday) on the occasion of 'Herzl Day', marking his birthday, starting tomorrow - 10th of Iyar.
During the discussion, a confrontation developed between MK Gideon Sa'ar and Moshe Aboutbul.
This was when Sa'ar said: "Contrary to the prevailing perceptions among parts of the public that Herzl's Zionism was disconnected from Judaism, Herzl well understood the necessary connection between them.".
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MK Moshe Aboutbul read interpellations and noted, among other things, that Herzl did not circumcise his son.
Sa'ar responded: "There were also those in real time who opposed Zionism and caused a tragic delay in saving Jews from hell thanks to the same perceptions that denied Zionism even then. Even then, there were those who shouted these shouts and it caused a tragic thing for the Jewish people, and there are those who didn't even learn the lesson. You haven't learned anything and probably won't learn, you come every year to disrupt Herzl Day, apparently you see this as one of your parliamentary assignments.".
Abutbul later explained his readings: "Saar and Stern tried to paint Herzl as a lover of Torah and literature. I mentioned the fact that Herzl proposed mass conversion to Christianity as a solution for the Jews, put a fir tree in his house, called for the rabbis to be imprisoned in a synagogue, and did not even circumcise his son."
""The famous truth angered Gideon, but facts don't lie. Shas will continue to emphasize and preserve the Jewish character in Israel.".
