After a debate packed with heated exchanges that lasted more than 11 hours, the Knesset committee accepted, with a majority of seven supporters and no opponents, the request of Prime Minister and Yamina Chairman Naftali Bennett to declare MK Amichai Shikli as retired. MK Eitan Ginsburg, who chaired the Knesset committee meeting yesterday, spoke with Golan Yochpaz and Anat Davidov on 103fm.
""There is no doubt that Shikley had very authentic, very personal, emotional claims, and I tell you personally, I took it very seriously and listened to everything MK Shikley and his lawyer had to say," Ginsburg said.
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He said, "I was impressed by the fact that he truly believes that the coalition is wrong, that he acts according to his worldview and ideology, that he is loyal to his ideological path and I believed him, but I was also impressed that he ended up almost de facto removing himself from the Yamina faction, in the way he conducted himself on a daily basis within the Knesset, when he voted for over 700 laws contrary to the faction's opinion, spoke out against it many times, did not participate in faction meetings, in all the practical steps of conduct within the Knesset.".
Ginsburg continued: "There is no doubt that he is not part of the Yamina faction, even though he believes that he represents the original positions of Yamina. I believe him very much in this, but that was not the discussion before us. I believed in his sincerity, but in terms of his resignation, there is no doubt that he is resigning from Yamina, and I cannot imagine that he thinks that today he is part of the Yamina faction, with all the Knesset members who are in the coalition and he is in the opposition.".
However, he claimed, "There were MKs who simply came to put on a show. They chose to behave like little children who want to annoy the teacher. Throughout almost the entire debate, 12 hours, they did not stop interrupting the parties, descended into personal and quite disgusting ways, and also attacked the committee's legal advisor, who was only doing her professional work.".
Ginsburg continued to criticize the conduct of opposition members in the committee hearing yesterday, "I tried to minimize the damage they do to every elected official with their violent and poor behavior, and I'll tell you more than that - I wish the opposition members were active in the Knesset committees throughout the entire term to the level they were active yesterday. Most of them don't even come to the committees, they receive their usual salary.".
He added: "I think many of them came to put on a show. Some even made a statement and said, 'We came to put on a media event.'".
On the other hand, Ginsburg claimed, "I truly came with an open heart and a willing mind. There were questions and dilemmas, but I also think that at the end of the discussion, it is clear that Shiki is not part of the current Yamina faction.".
He said, "I did not come to this debate with some position, with some agenda, with some mission that someone told me, 'You have to vote this way.' No coalition debate took place. I am the chairman of a faction, no one spoke to me before, no one told me what to do," however, he noted: "I am also a witness to what Shikley has done throughout the last ten months, I am not disconnected.".
But still you say, 'I believed in his authenticity, in the pain, in the path he went through.'.
""definitely".
Do you believe that in the end he really pays some kind of moral price here and was not promised a job in Likud?
""I don't know if it was promised or not. I can tell you that a few years ago, MK Orly Levy-Abekasis was in exactly the same situation. Her Yisrael Beytenu faction joined Netanyahu's coalition. She chose for ideological reasons to remain outside the coalition, acted against Yisrael Beytenu's position, voted against a budget, did not participate in faction meetings, spoke out against the government and against her party, and at the end of the day Yisrael Beytenu asked to see her resign.".
Ginsburg continued, saying: "And the entire Likud faction, Yisrael Beytenu, Smotrich, and religious Zionism voted in favor of her resignation. I read all the minutes of all the resignation meetings in the history of the Knesset. There weren't many of them, there were 4 of them throughout history, and there is no doubt that these cases are very, very similar. In the end, she decided then that she was not part of Yisrael Beytenu, and I also believed yesterday that Shiki had removed himself de facto from his activities, and yesterday also de jure from the Yamina faction.".
There are reports that, although he was dismissed, he will find his place in the next government that Likud forms.
""I don't know and it didn't interest me. It's not part of the facts they presented to us and it's not part of the discourse. I don't think there's any kind of calantharism here.".
What is the message of yesterday's discussion for Idit Silman?
""I didn't try to convey any message to Yidit. She announced that she was withdrawing from the coalition, she also announced on the same occasion - she also spoke to me personally - that she feels she is part of the Yamina faction. I didn't hear her say that she was joining the Likud or joining the opposition.".
