"Abu Mazen and all these evil people should perish from this earth," Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual head of the religious Shas party in Israel's government, said in a sermon late Saturday, using Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's popular name."God should strike them and these Palestinians -- evil haters of Israel -- with a plague," the 89-year-old rabbi said in his weekly address to the faithful, excerpts of which were broadcast on Israeli radio Sunday.
On the same day, the Israeli PM Netanyahu distances himself immediately from these comments.
"These words do not reflect the approach of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, nor the position of the government of Israel," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.
In our own little pond, it took Najib weeks to release a statement on the racial tensions being fanned into a bonfire by certain sectors of our society. Truly, world class indeed.
Its just not good enough -- not only should the repudiation be immediate, but Najib should name names. Put the offenders down, create a significant distance between yourself and them. Show some cojones and take a bold stand. If a Jewish PM can speak so boldly against such a respected member of the Jewish religious community, surely Najib can speak out plainly against a couple of school teachers and a firebrand from Pasir Mas.
Surely.
