Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein oversees a plenum session in March, 2013 (photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein rebuked Finance Minister Yair Lapid Saturday for announcing that he would no longer deliver major addresses at the Knesset for fear of interruptions.
“Minister Lapid’s announcement shows contempt for the Knesset, disrespects his fellow legislators, and harms the institution’s reputation. Elected officials are sent by their voters to the Knesset which is their place of work, and therefore it is fitting he delivers his speeches in its walls,” said Edelstein.
“Whoever decides to give speeches outside the legislature will have to pass his laws outside of it too. In these days, when the Treasury is drawing up the budget, it is, in my opinion, proper that the finance minister hold dialogue, even if it’s a difficult one, with the public’s various representatives.”
Edelstein’s statement followed Lapid’s announcement in a letter to Yesh Atid supporters on Friday that he had decided to forego delivering major speeches at the Knesset, and instead will deliver them at external conferences and private functions, because of the constant interruptions he suffers in the House by his fellow lawmakers.
‘I don’t tell you what to do on Saturday, and you don’t tell me what to do on Saturday,’ said Finance Minister Yair Lapid as he sparred with ultra-Orthodox Knesset members during Monday’s session (photo credit: Miriam Alster/Flash90)
On Sunday, Lapid and MKs from ultra-Orthodox parties came to verbal blows over proposed austerity measures set to be included in the annual budget.
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Lapid, a former television anchor and columnist, is a first time MK. He rose to political prominence after leading his Yesh Atid party to win 19 Knesset seats in January elections.
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