''You got it all': Knesset's spokesperson backs MK's removal with baby

July 2, 2023   

The Knesset's legal advisor, Attorney Sagit Afik, today (Sunday) backed the Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, MK Uriel Bosso of Shas, after MK Sharan Haskel was not allowed to speak in the Knesset plenum while holding the baby in her arms. Afik criticized Haskel: "You received everything as a working mother with your baby, the Knesset allocated you a larger room, a larger vehicle, the Ethics Committee went beyond and approved a caregiver for you instead of a travel advisor for trips abroad. It is important that you know that in the Knesset plenum, clear rules apply, especially in the plenary rostrum, and the Knesset Speaker must act according to them.". Haskel responded: "The attempt to push the discussion to the Knesset's legal counsel is an escape from responsibility. As the attorney general said, such cases on issues that are not regulated by the statute or the law are precisely the cases in which the chairman of the session and the Knesset speaker are supposed to exercise discretion. I regret that this is the way in which they exercised their 'discretion.'" She added: "I suggested to the chairman that I speak from the sidelines of the hall and justify my bill for only 60 seconds, but I was denied that too. If the chairman had allowed me to speak, as is possible in quite a few parliaments around the world, the entire discussion we are having now would not have taken place.".