Benny Begin assures colleagues he won’t quit Knesset
Reading Netanyahu's praise on Facebook 'was like reading my own obituary,' says parliament's oldest serving member
Likud MK Benny Begin on Monday officially confirmed his resignation from the cabinet after a brief 17-day stint as minister-without-portfolio, and assured members of his faction that he was determined to remain in the Knesset.
Addressing a meeting of the Likud faction, Begin, in typically sardonic fashion, thanked Benjamin Netanyahu for a Facebook post Friday in which the prime minister heaped praise on him, saying that reading it was a bit like reading his own obituary.
Begin, who at 72 is the oldest serving member of Knesset, was forced out of his cabinet position when Netanyahu appointed senior Likud lawmaker Gilad Erdan as a minister last week.
In his post Friday, the prime minister called Begin “a model civil servant, a man of values and tremendous capabilities and experience, one of the pillars of the Likud movement.
“His contribution to the government is significant and essential, including in forums where we discuss matters of the highest sensitivity to the security of Israel,” the prime minister continued.
“For a moment there I thought I was reading my own obituary,” Begin said Monday. “I pinched myself.”
Then he added, turning to Netanyahu, “I then sent to your office the resignation letter.”
Reading from the letter, Begin continued, “Mr. Prime Minister, in light of your request and in accordance with Clause 22a of Basic Law: Government I announce my resignation from the government. Respectfully, etc. etc.”
Begin, whose later father, Menachem Begin, was prime minister of Israel from 1977 to 1983, put to bed rumors that he would resign from the Knesset after being pushed out as a minister, saying, “only an idiot” would believe he was quitting, and that “I have no such intention.”
The entire 30-strong Likud faction burst into applause.
“Many years ago, my father and teacher said an MK can serve the people also from the opposition and in this spirit I am sure I can serve from the coalition,” he said, in another dig at Netanyahu.
The prime minister, for his part, said he “stand[s] behind every word of praise I said about Benny.”