A doctored image of Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein showing him with a Hitler-like mustache and labeled "Yuli Hitlerstein" that went viral on social media is drawing condemnations from officials on both ends of the political spectrum.
The image was originally posted by a radical right-wing Israeli living in the U.S.
Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev (Likud), who recently quarreled with Edelstein over her decision to invite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak at the annual Independence Day torch-lighting ceremony on Mount Herzl, said that such an offensive and "extremist" image should be condemned as strongly as possible.
Edelstein had strongly objected to the idea of Netanyahu speaking at the strictly non-political event.
"There is no excuse to use symbols of Nazism," Regev said Sunday. "I condemn any use of images like these."
"A line has been crossed that should serve as a warning to us all," said Likud Youth Chairman David Shayan. "We are weighing legal steps to contain this phenomenon."
Deputy Knesset Speaker Hilik Bar (Zionist Union) accused senior Likud officials of inciting against Edelstein.
"This is a new level of incitement, delegitimization, and moral ugliness against Speaker Edelstein," he said. "It appears that the incitement against Edelstein has enjoyed a tailwind from the … government, and this is the result."
