Extremely harsh criticism of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's party over the removal of MK Yom Tov Kalfon from Knesset. In the end, the fall of the government. "
Recall last Friday a number of moves were made as part of Bennett's attempt to bring order to the party and prevent the retirement of more defectors.
The Minister of Religious Affairs, Matan Kahana, announced his decision to resign as Minister of Religious Affairs and that he would return to serve as an MK. Following this, Kalfon ceased to serve as a Knesset member. With only 59 MKs.
Matan Kahana and Ayelet Shaked, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
The senior official claims that all the explanations that have been published so far regarding the reasons for his dismissal from Kalfon's Knesset and the return of Minister of Religions Matan Kahana to it, "make the prime minister very bad."
"If Bennett really needs Matan Kahana in his hands in the Knesset physically, as has been claimed, it means that he is a weak person who is unable to manage on his own," he said.
"If the goal is to convey a message within the party, then the conclusion that Nir Auerbach and the others have to draw is that there is no evil or friendship and no one can trust the other. Because if it happened today to Kalfon, tomorrow it can happen to anyone else."
On Kalfon, the senior official said that this was the most right-wing factor left on the right.
"He was well-liked in the activist groups," he said.
"Among other things, because he showed courage and publicly attacked Netanyahu in interviews. His dismissal eliminates the little support left for the 'right' in the right-wing wings. The move is a very serious mistake. With Kalfon we could probably move the Knesset summer conference, and maybe even govern until 2023. Without him, it is doubtful that this will happen. "
"He will be left without people"
Meanwhile, Israel Today has learned new details about the procedures that preceded the surprising move.
On Wednesday, Kalfon was absent from a number of votes in the plenum, but he did so in coordination with the coalition leadership and was offset with opposition MKs.
A few hours later, Lapid confirmed in an interview with Channel 12 that he intends to rely on the joint Arab list to prevent the fall of the government.
His remarks caused a stir in Bennett's party, and in an internal poll among MKs, everyone expressed strong opposition to the foreign minister's remarks.
On Thursday morning, feverish discussions took place in the vicinity of Bennett, on the question of how to settle the crisis, and a few hours later the decision was made to oust Kalfon.
The telephone conversation between Bennett and Kalfon took place on Thursday evening, and Minister Kahana attended.
He and Bennett reiterated to him that they have no allegations against him and that they know he is loyal to Bennett and has not considered leaving the government.
According to the two, the decision to cancel his membership in the Knesset "was due to other reasons and not because of you."
Naftali Bennett, Photo: None
Against this background, political sources estimate that Bennett ousted Kalfon in order to stop the growing tension between the two wings of the coalition.
"He may have sacrificed the turret to save the queen. Bennett wanted to prevent further extremism of Gush Lapid, which in turn would cause a reactionary step in the right wing of the coalition," a senior Bennett party said.
"He probably wanted to calm the tension, but if that was the consideration, the result would be exactly the opposite. Bennett made a serious mistake when Peter MK who was loyal to him.
At this rate, after the resignation of Shimrit Meir, and the party's spokesman Oved Perl, he will soon be left without people. "
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