Yair Lapid, you were a reporter for "The Camp." Today you are the camp's tweeter. pic.twitter.com/ubkKQ89xEp
— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) August 5, 2020
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke this afternoon (Wednesday) in the Knesset plenum, after being required to appear at the request of 40 opposition MKs, to hear criticism of the government's performance in the Corona crisis and the collapse of social services.
After listening to the arguments of the opposition MKs for about an hour, Netanyahu rose to respond. Opposition Chairman Yair Lapid spoke after him.
Netanyahu: "I want to say to the members of the opposition, I have heard all your idle claims, the claims about economic collapse from people who opposed the free-market economic plan that I brought that lifted Israel into the global economy. I have heard claims about neglecting security from people who have strongly opposed my stance, sometimes in front of the whole world, against Iran's nuclear program, and I have heard claims from people who say why I opened the economy - after they called for it to be opened and said that the coronavirus is an invention, that there is no coronavirus, that it is Netanyahu's whim. Even if I were to bring a vaccine for the coronavirus and world peace, you would ask here, 'Why only now?'".
Naztaniyahu mentioned: "We led huge changes in the Israeli economy, we opened the centralized and closed Israeli economy to competition, and as a result, we received results that allowed us to provide and build police stations, and for the first time in years to double the education, health and welfare budget in a decade. This only came as a result of the correct economy that we led, and I am proud to say that I led in the opposition of many of you. You did this not for the sake of one sector or another, but for the sake of the weak in society.
""I want to say to my friends on the left: you are not interested in facts. With you on the left - everything is political. Corona is political, the economy is political, and the demonstrations are also political. They are organized by left-wing organizations, financed by left-wing foundations and receive disproportionate support from the left-wing media. They take a quarter of the left's mandate and present it as mass demonstrations. Fake news on live broadcast.
""The broadcasters broadcast from there with sparkling eyes. Morning show hosts participate in the evening demonstrations. The media is recruiting and recruiting. We are told that the leftist demonstrations are 'spontaneous.' These are the most organized 'spontaneous' demonstrations ever. Demonstrations that are organized from luxury hotels and high-rise towers.".
""In many countries around the world, the opposition is joining the fight against Corona alongside the government. In Israel, it's the other way around. When we fight the disease, the left is fighting the government.".
He added: "When did you ever give legitimacy to a right-wing prime minister? You never accepted the people's choice. The people's decision. This is not just against me personally, it is first and foremost against the vast public that I represent. We saw the mobilization of the left and the media 15 years ago in the disengagement.".
""During the disengagement, you minimized a huge right-wing protest and today you are inflating a small left-wing protest. During the disengagement, hundreds of thousands demonstrated and now there is barely a quarter of a mandate. Today they complain that the police are restricting the demonstrations. What nonsense. They bring as many buses as they want, but then during the disengagement, they stopped hundreds of buses and blocked them on the way to the demonstrations. They didn't let them come at all.
""I do not restrict any demonstration near the Prime Minister's residence. But there are those who did restrict them. The court. During the right-wing demonstrations against the Oslo Plan, near Balfour Street, the court ruled the following: 'The petitioners have the constitutional right to hold a demonstration near the Prime Minister's residence. This right is not absolute. It must be balanced with the right to privacy of the Prime Minister, his household members, and his neighbors. It must be balanced with considerations of public safety.' Who headed the panel that ruled this? Honorable Justice Aharon Barak.
""In the ruling, Judge Barak limited the demonstrations to 500 people, limited the duration of the assembly from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM. An hour and a half. The amplification system will be limited to an assembly of 500 people.
""What has changed since then? It's the same High Court of Justice, the same police, the same Prime Minister's residence, the same Balfour Street, the same streets nearby, the same Paris Square. What has changed? The Prime Minister has changed! What was forbidden then against a Prime Minister from the left, is permitted today against a Prime Minister from the right. One law for the left, one law for the right. Hypocrisy!""
The Prime Minister criticized the opposition's conduct: "Don't be arrogant towards the people. Don't pretend to speak on behalf of the people. MK Lapid, don't build on the demonstrations of your left, of Ayman Odeh and Ehud Barak. Don't make up a coalition. Ayman Odeh said here in the plenary today that I am a 'terrorist.' Your partner calls me a terrorist. The one who supports terrorism calls the Prime Minister a 'terrorist.' The same partner who participated in the conference with Hamas last month.
""We will defeat the coronavirus. Only you can cure your virus of hatred. Stop supporting extremism, incitement, calls for murder. Condemn them here and now.".
Netanyahu chided Lapid in the plenary: "My father told me that if a prime minister does not have a deep and broad education, he will be a slave to the officials and those around him. Yair Lapid, for your attention, you were a reporter in the camp and today you are the 'camp tweeter.' There are a few more things you need to do in between to be prime minister.".
The Prime Minister began his speech by referring to the explosion in Lebanon and the offer of assistance from Israel: "On behalf of the Israeli government, I send condolences to the people of Lebanon. They have experienced a very great disaster and we are prepared to extend a humanitarian nightmare, as humans to humans. This is our path, as we did in the humanitarian crisis in Syria. As we offered to the Iranian people during the earthquake. We distinguish between regimes and peoples.".
During the discussion, many interpellations were made towards the Prime Minister, and Speaker Yariv Levin called for order among the Knesset members and removed MKs Tamar Zandberg, Yulia Malinovsky, and Hiba Yazbak from the opposition and Mai Golan from the coalition from the discussion.
