Moldova”s Ambassador to Israel on Thursday sent a sharply worded letter to MK Yinon Azoulay from Shas to protest Azoulay”s referring to Yisrael Beytenu chairman MK Avigdor Liberman as “an ignoramus from Moldova”.
The incident took place during a heated discussion at the Knesset plenum on Wednesday, which began when Liberman took the podium and mentioned the names of great rabbis who studied non-religious subjects in addition to Torah.
Azoulay then came to the podium to speak and fired back at Liberman, calling him an “ignoramus from Moldova” and adding, “Who are you? Who are you to preach to us? You stand here all day and incite.”
In his letter to Azoulay, Ambassador Alexandr Roitman wrote, “I have learned with extreme dismay, that in one of the recent debates in the Knesset, you have mentioned in a negative connotation, my country – the Republic of Moldova.”
“I wrote this letter because I could not let simply bypass such an unjust comment towards the state and the people of Moldova, and also let this sad incident to lay a shadow on the bilateral ties between the Republic of Moldova and the State of Israel,” wrote the Ambassador.
Roitman noted that he is “devoted to the promotion and enhancing of the dialogue between our two countries, this effort is based on our common history and values, and our mutual understanding that the times of oppression and persecution based on ethnic, religious or racial differences are left behind.”
“In this context I would like to tell you that I was born, raised and educated in Moldova, as in fact where many generations of Jews which became decades ago full fledged citizens of this country and contributed both to the foundation and development of the State of Israel,” he added.
“I would like to use this opportunity and call on you to avoid such remarks for future, as such language is unacceptable, also bearing in mind the centuries of common history of Moldovan and Jewish People,” concluded Ambassador Roitman.