Michael Ben Ari ripped up a copy of the New Testament and threw it in the garbage.
Ben Ari, of the National Union Party, had his legislative aide, Itamar Ben Gvir, photograph his destruction and released the photo Tuesday to the daily Maariv.
Lawmakers had received in their Knesset mailboxes copies of the new edition of the New Testament released by the Bible Society, which distributes Christian books, Ynet reported. Some returned it to the society and others quietly disposed of it.
“Sending the book to lawmakers is a provocation. There is no doubt that this book and all it represents belongs in the garbage can of history,” Ben Ari said, adding that it "galvanized the murder of millions of Jews" throughout history, including during the Spanish Inquisition.
Michael Ben-Ari a religious conservative was photographed tearing up a copy of the New Testament which was given to him by Israeli Evangelicals
He did not commit this act in just any old place; he did it in the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament. Ben-Ari is a member of HaIhud HaLeumim (National Union) a religious Jewish right wing party close to the Occupy Movement.
The gesture - which brings to mind the action of U.S. pastor Terry Jones who set fire to a copy of the Koran - was in response to an “unacceptable provocation” by the Israeli Bible Society, an Evangelical entity which in recent days sent a copy of the New Testament in Jewish to all 120 Israeli MPs. ““We are pleased to send you this book which we hope will help you and illuminate your way,” the accompanying letter written by Victor Kalisher read. “We hope and pray that this book may help you in your important position in service of the people.”
But yesterday, Michael Ben-Ari decided to go even further and got a photographer to capture the moment when he publicly ripped the pages out of the book in question and then threw them in the bin. As he did so he said: “This abominable book [the New Testament] brought about the murder of millions of Jews in the Inquisition and autos da fé.” “This is a provocation by church missionaries and there is no doubt that this book and those who sent it belong in the garbage can of history.”