Yesh Atid-Telem chairman MK Yair Lapid addressed the opening of Netanyahu's trial at the start of the faction's meeting on Monday afternoon, claiming that the trial "began with wild incitement against the rule of law.""
Lapid opened: "The State of Israel is in danger. Not from the outside - from the inside. Not from below - from above. From the Prime Minister, from the ministers. Israel changed yesterday. It will no longer be the same country. The sitting Prime Minister was put on trial yesterday. His trial did not begin with the presentation of evidence. His trial began with wild incitement against the rule of law. Against the courts. He stood in front of the court and incited.".
Lapid warned: "It will end in violence. He knows it will end in violence. He doesn't care. The prime minister tried to sell us yesterday that thousands of people - police officers, investigators, lawyers, judges, journalists, politicians - are partners in a huge conspiracy designed to make a case for him. This is a paranoid delusion. Anyone who is capable of saying such things in front of a microphone, in front of a camera, is not qualified to be prime minister.".
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""Yes - there was a coup attempt yesterday. The one who led it was Netanyahu. He tried to harm the police, the prosecutor's office, the court, the media. He tried to threaten his judges.
""He brought with him to court the ministers in charge of law enforcement. His representatives on the Judicial Appointments Committee. Netanyahu has become a man without restraint. He has lost his brakes.".
Lapid referred to the silence of Gantz and Ashkenazi and Gantz's instruction to his people not to attack: "Gantz and Ashkenazi, on the other hand, chose the right to remain silent yesterday. After all the promises to protect the judicial system, Gantz issued an order yesterday to his people not to attack Netanyahu. To speak about him softly, in as low a voice as possible.... A week ago, when they entered the government, they said: "We will not accept an attack on the rule of law." There is an attack on the rule of law! A terrible, violent, frontal attack. What are you preparing to do about it? Is there any principle that you are willing to fight for?
""The entire State of Israel needs to stand up to Netanyahu and tell him, 'That's it!' We won't let you drag us down with you. We won't let you dismantle all the vital systems of the state.".
""I want to tell the citizens of Israel something about themselves: We are better than this. We are better than what you saw yesterday on the courthouse steps. We are better than the incitement, the hatred, the corruption that you saw yesterday. We are better than this government. A government of the disconnected, the deserters, and the silent. This is not what Israel has become. This is not our true character. This is one man accused of crimes. The State of Israel was here before him, it will be here after him, it is better than this. By far.".
