Lapid pans Netanyahu bloc for ‘Bite me’ attitude toward critics of contentious moves
Outgoing PM claims members of incoming government arrogantly dismissing concerns about legislation that could alter Israel’s democracy, warns this may come back to hurt them
Outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid launched a scathing attack in the Knesset Monday directed at what he described as total indifference on the part of the emerging coalition toward public concern over its declared policies and controversial planned legislation, which have stoked fear for the country’s democracy.
Lapid addressed the plenum during a debate on a bill, sponsored by expected incoming premier Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, to change the regulations for lawmakers making it harder for them to split off from their parties. The bill was later voted into law.
Netanyahu led a bloc of right-wing and religious parties to victory in the November 1 elections and has until next week to swear in the next government. Before that, it is racing to pass several bills demanded by Netanyahu’s political allies that critics say will dangerously erode Israel’s democratic character.
“The incoming coalition has a new slogan: ‘Bite me,'” Lapid said, referring to recent remarks made by lawmakers from Netanyahu’s allied parties in media interviews or on social media when responding to criticism of their far-reaching demands.
Lapid accused the incoming coalition of having “a new concept in the history of democracy” in which the government tells the country’s citizens “we don’t work for you” and counters any criticism by saying: “Bite me.”
“This is their slogan, this is their attitude,” Lapid said. “Do you pay taxes in this country? Bite me. Are you working? Bite me. Do you send your children to public schools? Bite me.”
Some of the comments were apparently aimed at demands by the ultra-Orthodox parties, which represent a community that is less integrated into the workforce, mostly does not do compulsory military service, runs its own school systems, and enjoys various benefits and tax breaks due to the large size of its families.
Lapid said the incoming government wants to rule “without the first duty of every government — to work for the citizens, to respect their rights,” and wants to wield power “without bearing the responsibilities of a government.”
The principle of being responsible for all citizens, he said, has been “canceled.”
“They do not try to maintain a balance, they have no interest in living in cooperation, they have no interest in proper administration, in keeping the law, in keeping the balance between Judaism and democracy, between security and civil rights. All the most sacred values of the state have been replaced in their view with two words: ‘Bite me.'”
Lapid claimed even Likud voters don’t understand why their party has to “surrender” to the ultra-Orthodox and far-right parties allied with Netanyahu.
He warned the attitude could come back to hurt Netanyahu’s political camp in the future: “Sometimes you’re up, sometimes you’re down. Sometimes you are in the coalition and sometimes you are in the opposition. Sometimes you say ‘Bite me’ to all the citizens of Israel, and then elections come, and that’s exactly what they’ll tell you.”
Netanyahu later panned Lapid, tweeting that “Lapid can’t put a ball over the goal line even after the final whistle. He still hasn’t internalized the election results. Lapid lost and the right won. Very soon we’ll form a strong right-wing government that will fix Lapid’s mess and take care of all Israelis.”
Legislation planned by the emerging coalition includes a High Court override clause that will curtail the judiciary by allowing the Knesset to re-legislate laws that are struck down as unconstitutional by the top court.
Members of the incoming coalition have vowed to pass the override clause, and also to give the governing coalition of the day control over the panel that selects justices.
The proposed judicial changes — particularly the override clause — have been denounced by Netanyahu’s political rivals and prominent legal figures as destructive to Israel’s democratic system, leaving the parliamentary majority of the day with no brakes on its power.
Other bills in the pipeline will expand the authority of the national security minister, set to be Otzma Yehudit head Itamar Ben Gvir, over the police force, and another will make it harder for rebel MKs to peel off from their parliamentary factions without sanction. Another law is aimed at clearing Shas party leader Aryeh Deri’s path to becoming a minister despite having been convicted of tax offenses and sentenced to a suspended sentence earlier this year.
The likely incoming coalition wants the bills to pass into law before the government is sworn in, with Netanyahu having until Wednesday night to declare he has cobbled together a coalition, and a week after that to officially swear it in.
The Times of Israel Community.