“Answer me like a good girl,” Likud MK Miki Zohar told Arrangements Committee chairwoman MK Idit Silman at a Knesset session on Monday morning.
Zohar made his comment during the committee vote regarding a bill that would make it easier to split the Likud Party so that four of its MKs can join the coalition.
In a video shared by Army Radio on Twitter, Zohar can be heard speaking over Silman, who has been subjected to death threats, as she attempts to silence the committee.
“Who are you anyway? Answer me like a good girl,” Zohar said disdainfully after Silman refused to pause the proceedings to answer his question.
“I will not answer your question, you arrived late for the committee,” Silman shot back at the Likud MK.
ח"כ @zoharm7 תוקף את יו"ר הקואליציה @iditsilman בדיון הוועדה המסדרת: "למה מי את בכלל? תעני כמו ילדה טובה"@yanircozin pic.twitter.com/B9Oewhh0NN
— גלצ (@GLZRadio) June 28, 2021
Before the meeting, the former coalition whip spoke to Army Radio, calling the committee vote scheduled for 8:30 a.m. an “impossible hour,” adding that it was far too early in the day to schedule meetings.
Committee members then continued to speak over Silman as she tried to restore order.
Speaking about the incident, Aliyah and Integration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata called the incident “cowardly chauvinism,” and said that it was “not just a personal slur on MK Silman, but showed disregard for the status of women in general.”
She also stated that she had written to Knesset Speaker MK Mickey Levy to request an ethics committee probe of the incident, if he deemed it necessary.
Silman took to Twitter to comment on the event, suggesting that this was not the first time that such incidents had occurred.
“They call me a little girl – once, twice, three times. And then I understood that this is a method – there is a guiding hand; kindergarten tactics,” she said. “But this time it will not work.”
Zohar later apologized to the committee chairwoman, saying that he had spoken “in the heat of the moment.”הם קוראים לי ילדה קטנה.פעם, פעמיים, שלוש. ואז הבנתי שזו שיטה.שיש כאן יד מכוונת. טקטיקה של גן ילדים.אבל הפעם זה לא יצליח לכם.אנחנו כאן כדי לעבוד.ותודה לקווה שפרן.ילדים, תקראו ספרים, זה מחכים. pic.twitter.com/YbUDGXEp7h
— Idit Silman - עידית סילמן (@iditsilman) June 28, 2021
Silman has recently been subjected to death threats aimed at both her and her family, her office said on Sunday.
As a result of the threats, the Yamina MK has been assigned additional security.
“The threats against me and my family are a product of unprecedented and intentional attacks from opposition members,” she said.
Among the threats sent to the MK were statements such as “You should experience how it feels to be a bereaved mother,” and “One of your children should die in a terrorist attack.”
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.