Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attacked National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's conduct during a speech at the start of the faction meeting on Monday, saying that "the way to change is not through threats to topple the government and boycott the government and votes in the Knesset."
The Finance Ministry's remarks were made in the shadow of Minister Ben-Gvir's decision to boycott the cabinet meeting held yesterday together with members of his faction, following the decision of the security establishment to return the bodies of terrorists to the Palestinian Authority last Friday.
Smotrich said, "The way to bring about change is not by threatening to topple the government and boycotting the government and the coalition votes in the Knesset. The biggest prize for terrorism is the overthrow of the right-wing government and the rise of the left, together with terror supporters, to power."
At the same time, the Finance Minister referred to the tension between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Minister Ben-Gvir. "I call on them to sit down and talk and get the work of the government and coalition back on track. We are facing approval of the state budget in its second and third readings."
Smotrich and Michaeli at the faction meetings, 08.05.2023 // Photo: Yehuda Schlesinger
Regarding the evacuation of Khan al-Ahmar: "The state's response, unlike previous times, said that Khan al-Ahmar is illegal. He will be evacuated. I wonder, to put it mildly, how the High Court's arguments didn't work in Amona and Megaron. When it comes to demolishing, dismantling and expelling Jews from their homes, that's where the High Court of Justice runs on steroids to intervene. When it comes to Arabs, the High Court is suddenly willing to accept the state's position and not intervene."
Smotrich said, among other things, about the rocket fire from the Gaza Strip: "We must not accept this reality in any way."
"Israel needs to immediately restore deterrence, which he says has been lost over the past year and a half." We must change the perception of security and dealing with the threats, vis-à-vis Gaza, Hezbollah and the Arabs in Judea and Samaria. I am working with all my might to bring about this change with the prime minister, in discussions in the security cabinet and in other relevant forums."
Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
"Political protection payment"
Labor Party Chairman MK Merav Michaeli attacked Netanyahu's government: "What has been happening in the past 12 hours is simply the payment of political protection. Each and every one of us pays over NIS <> billion that Netanyahu and the Likud pay to build a halachic state instead of the State of Israel. This is a bribe to the ultra-Orthodox, a bribe to the settlers, a bribe to the extreme and dangerous messianic right that endangers Israel."
Merav Michaeli, Archive, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Michaeli went on the offensive: "Everything that really hurts Israeli society is simply not interesting, simply not interesting. She doesn't care about the periphery, she doesn't care about girls and children, she doesn't care about education, she doesn't care about welfare. Even from the confidence that they speak for him high and have promised so much, the results speak for themselves."
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