At his installation speech as a legislator at the Knesset on May 4, Yinon Magal from HaBayit HaYehudi quoted a verse from Pirkei Avot (Avot a:a), a compendium of Jewish ethical teachings. It tells how the Torah was first handed to Moses at Mount Sinai, who then handed it over to Joshua, who gave it to the Jewish elders, who in turn passed it on to the prophets, who entrusted it with Knesset Gdola — the Great Assembly — a supreme body of Jewish scholars. Later Magal described how he had read the verse to one of his five children, explaining the huge responsibility that the members of the Great Assembly played in Jewish life and their impact to this very day.

In the wake of the alleged sexual harassment affair that was revealed Nov. 24, one cannot but wonder how a person can be so oblivious when he speaks ad nauseam about family values, Jewish ethics and the fantasy of building of a new temple, while allowing himself to behave so offensively toward the women around him. Having been stripped of his position as the faction’s chairman following a harsh nightly tete-a-tete with his party’s leader Naftali Bennett, Magal will be remembered by the public mainly as a joke, whether he completes a full term or whether he decides to step down. Unfortunately, however, the joke is at the public’s expense.

It remains to be seen what will be the fate of the new Knesset member in terms of criminal charges, but it is reasonable to assume that Magal’s career will be rather short-lived despite having seen himself as a future Cabinet minister.

The person who needs to do some soul searching and look into his own decision-making process is obviously Bennett, who pulled Magal from a very senior position in the Israeli media — editor-in-chief of Walla!, a popular news website. Bennett thought he had a trump card when it came to the votes of mainstream young Israelis. In the public mindset, Magal is branded as someone wearing many hats: A Tel Avivian on the one hand, he is also a supporter of the settlements on the other. A secular person, he also embraces Jewish tradition. He also supports legalizing cannabis, but is firmly opposed to any territorial compromise with the Palestinians. In a nutshell — he is a right-winger and hip.