An intern working for Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman, the main parliamentarian behind the government push to limit the power of the justice system, has been repeatedly banned on social media for racist, sexist, anti-LGBTQ and posting a provocative message, according to her report on Saturday.
Michael Vilensky, a student of public policy and Middle Eastern studies at Bar Ilan University, works on Rothman’s social media team, running the Telegram app “Jewishland” and the TikTok account “Jewish.land5.”
A Channel 13 news report aired several videos of Vilensky. In one posted to TikTok, Vilensky said that the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is not a hero, he is a traitor and does not deserve a memorial day every year.
Right-wing extremist Yigal Amir assassinated the former prime minister in 1995 while his government was promoting a peace process with the Palestinians.
The report stated that several of his videos have been removed in the past and his accounts have been suspended multiple times for violating offensive behavior rules. On Saturday night, both his Telegram and TikTok accounts were active.
In a post responding to a clash between Palestinians and Border Police officers outside the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem’s Old City, Vilensky wrote: “There are 3 things I can watch endlessly: water running, flames on fire, and Border Police deal with blows. at the Damascus Gate.”
MK Simcha Rothman leads a meeting of the Constitutional Committee at the Knesset on March 12, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Vilensky wrote on Telegram that “the Tel Aviv Pride Parade and the Arab riots in Acre are different symptoms of the same disease – lack of identity.”
In another incident, responding to protest signs declaring that under the current righteous and religious government, women would be forced to wear modest clothing and sit in the back of the bus, Vilensky wrote: “It never meant to be a lie . , does anyone see anything wrong with this?”
Rothman is the chairman of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, and together with Justice Minister Yariv Levin, he is leading the legislation to abolish the judiciary.
In response to the report, Rothman said “Michael Vilensky is a volunteer who helps my spokesperson edit videos and add captions. His removal from my office ends there.”
He went on to claim that Channel 13 “is running out of content for its desperate campaign against the reform of the justice system and has therefore turned into gossip”.
The MK did not criticize Vilensky’s comments or say whether he would continue to work with him.
Vilensky accused Channel 13 of picking and choosing the thousands of videos he uploaded over the years “to paint me as a bigoted and hateful person, and through me to denigrate MK Rothman and the image of judicial reform as a whole. “
