“There’s a steep cost for treasonous language. God will settle the score with you. When the day comes, you will be greeted at the Gates of Hell by [Sheikh Ahmed] Yassin, [Abdel Aziz] Rantisi and [Fathi] Shkaki, who have come to appoint you as the head of their household.”

The person responsible for this string of curses was none other than former Director of the Shin Bet and current Knesset member Avi Dichter of the Likud Party. He stood at the Knesset podium on March 28 and unleashed his invective at the head of the Joint List (of predominantly Arab parties), Arab Knesset member Ayman Odeh. Dichter’s attack came in response to a television interview, in which Odeh called him a murderer because of his past in the Shin Bet.

The incident took place in the final week of the Knesset’s winter session. It was characteristic of the last few months in the Israeli legislature. When the former head of the Shin Bet, once a highly regarded representative of Israeli officialdom, stoops as low as the Knesset’s worst detractors just to score political points, what could one possibly expect from backbenchers?

There is absolutely no doubt that with the intifada of individuals raging in the background, populist rhetoric and fights between Arab and Jewish Knesset members broke new ground in the current Knesset session.