Yitzhak Goldknopf
Yitzhak GoldknopfAvshalom Sassoni/Flash90

Construction and Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf (United Torah Judaism) on Wednesday morning published a statement responding to footage showing a haredi family cursing female IDF soldiers on a train.

"Anyone who humiliates another person in public has no share in the World to Come," Goldknopf said, emphasizing that this refers to "any Jew, no matter who he is."

"Even IDF soldiers are included in this rule," he added. "I condemn this behavior, which does not represent the Torah-observant community."

In the footage, the family members, both children and adults, can be heard calling the female soldiers "dogs" and in the background one of the women in the family can be heard saying, "The cleaning company put the entire can of trash here."

MK Yulia Malinovsky (Yisrael Beytenu) responded: "What is most horrifying about this video clip is that instead of the mother hushing the children, she is encouraging them and vilifying the soldiers herself."

MK Matan Kahana (National Unity), who himself is a Religious Zionist and a former Religious Affairs Minister, said, "There are nutcases on both sides. I have met many haredim in my life and I have never heard such statements. With all the disagreements, and obviously there are some, the haredim who I know are proud of the IDF soldiers and thank them every day, every hour. Don't let those on the fringes color an entire community. We are one nation."