Bennett, Netanyahu blame COVID, Iran, and more as Knesset opens

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The Knesset’s winter session got off to a bitter and stormy start on Monday, with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and his predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu mutually lambasting each other’s leadership and policies, and several opposition members were excluded from plenary for heckling Bennett at the start of a speech describing his government’s ostensible accomplishments.

Amid a litany of furious complaints, opposition leader Netanyahu accused the government of leaving people to their deaths, alleging it waited too long before launching its COVID-19 vaccination booster campaign, although ‘Israel was the first country in the world to offer a third widely drawn.

Netanyahu, speaking to lawmakers after the prime minister’s speech, said the government had tolerated the deaths of more than 1,400 Israelis in three months during the ongoing outbreak in the Delta.

“Bennett, you promised that when you were Prime Minister you would make a radical change in [the fight against] coronavirus in five weeks. You were right, you made a change, but a change for the worse, ”Netanyahu said.

“Four months ago, under our leadership, the Bloomberg Index ranked Israel fifth in the world for success in the fight against the coronavirus. Today, under your leadership, it ranks us 41st out of 53 countries. Almost at the bottom of the list of countries examined, ”continued the former prime minister.

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In his speech, however, Bennett detailed what he called the new coalition’s “great successes” in the 113 days since taking office, and attacked the previous government for “serial negligence.” .

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stands next to President Isaac Herzog as he addresses the Knesset in Jerusalem on October 4, 2021 (Menahem KAHANA / AFP)

“Each of the ministers and members of the coalition is fighting tooth and nail for the livelihoods of the citizens of Israel. We are fighting and succeeding, ”he said.

We have been through two years of stagnation: on Iranian nuclear weapons, in housing and heavy traffic on the roads, ”Bennett said, referring to the transitional governments that have ruled the country in the four election campaigns held since 2019. “For two years, everything was blocked. Three and a half months after starting, we can already see results: Israel is open, we have celebrated openly during the summer holidays, despite predictions of lockdown.

The prime minister touted his government’s COVID-19 policy of avoiding lockdowns and keeping the economy open, while members of the opposition shouted that it had cost Israel many lives.

We stop the Delta [variant], without a single day of confinement. The State of Israel is open – something that was once taken for granted is no longer open today, ”he said.

Likud MP Galit Distal Atbaryan shouted in response: You are a crook, you are a liar, you are the worst thing that has happened to this country.

A fellow Likud MP, May Golan, intervened: You are the biggest failure of a prime minister we have ever seen.

They were both kicked out of the chamber, along with Likud MPs David Amsalem, Shlomo Karhi and Keti Shitrit, all of whom received repeated warnings from Knesset Speaker Micky Levy against interrupting the prime minister’s speech.

Likud MP May Golan is expelled from the opening plenary session of the Knesset’s winter session on October 4, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi / Flash90)

Netanyahu, in his speech, also argued that the government has been tolerant of Iranian nuclear activity, having agreed to coordinate military activity with the United States and not fight the potential resumption of Iran. ‘a nuclear deal.

Have you lost your mind? he said, attacking Bennett for not opposing the deal during his recent speech to the United Nations General Assembly. You accept it as a done deal.

Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a plenary session on the opening day of the winter session in the Knesset, October 4, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi / Flash90)

Netanyahu said the government was also not acting adequately against Iranian and Palestinian terrorism.

There is no leadership, there is no reaction, there is no decision, there is only public relations, he said, alleging that the mainstream media acted as spokespersons for the government.

With the looming deadline for passage of the state budget being the main challenge facing the government, Bennett also used his speech to praise the proposed financial plan as “a boon to the State of Israel.”

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett speaks at the opening of the winter session in the Knesset, October 4, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi / Flash90)

“The budget will pass first reading, and will soon pass second and third reading, with God’s help,” the Prime Minister said. “I would like to congratulate my friend the Minister of Finance[Avigdor}Libermanforthisachievementandallmembersofthegovernment”[Avigdor}Libermanonthisachievementandallthemembersofthegovernment”[Avigdor}Libermanpourcetteréalisationettouslesmembresdugouvernement»[Avigdor}Libermanonthisachievementandallthemembersofthegovernment”

Failure to pass both budget bills in the Knesset within a recently extended deadline until November 14 would automatically result in the dissolution of parliament and the call of an election.

The budget is a crucial test for the Bennetts government as it seeks to consolidate its grip on power.

Last month, the Knesset approved the 2021-2022 state budget in its first readings, a milestone for the coalition. The bills were passed after agreements were reached between the coalition parties on various disputed issues. They are now under more scrutiny and must pass their second and third readings in plenary to become law.

The last time Israel approved a state budget was for 2019, before the country stuck in a two-year political stalemate.

Bennett also used his speech to tell the Knesset plenum that agents from the Mossad spy agency last month carried out an operation to find information about the fate of Ron Arad, an IDF soldier who was kidnapped by the Amal group in Lebanon in 1986, and has been missing since 1988.

Air Force Navigator Ron Arad, who disappeared in 1986, in his flight suit. (Israeli Air Force)

It was a complex and large-scale operation. That’s all we can say for now, says Bennett. We made another effort to figure out what happened to Ron.

Bennett thanked the Mossad staff, promising to continue the effort to get all of our boys home, wherever they are.

Opposition members’ scathing attacks on Bennett came despite President Isaac Herzog calling a few minutes earlier for the resumption of “civil and fair dialogue” between the coalition and the opposition.

Speaker Isaac Herzog speaks during the opening plenary session of the Knesset winter session on October 4, 2021 (Kobi Gideon / GPO)

“Even in the frenzy of debate, remember: the substantive arguments, yes; legitimacy for the thug, no, ”Herzog said.

Almost begging the lawmakers to whom he was addressing, the president said: “There is no other avenue than dialogue, a persistent, pragmatic and enlightened process of institutional reform, and of strengthening the checks and balances between government authorities in Israel.

“It can happen. It has to happen,” Herzog said.

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