At rally, Rothman wrangles with left to reclaim mantle of democracy

MK Simcha Rothman receives even louder cheers than Levin as he steps us to the microphone.

“Rothman! Rothman!” The crowd chants.

“So many lies,” he says, “but we all came to say and hear just a bit of truth. Just like a little light chases away a lot of darkness.”

He says that democracy is on the government’s side, even though the opposition’s supporters use the term as their rallying cry.

“More than two million people voted for the nationalist camp to fix the judicial system, that’s democracy,” he says.

He gets the crowd to chant “democracy.”

“Without a judicial reform, we will continue passing laws to take away citizenship from terrorists, and the Supreme Court will say no. Without a judicial reform, we will continue passing laws to bring security to the residents of south Tel Aviv and deal with illegal immigrants, and the Supreme Court will say no,” he says.

“It’s important to fix and it’s important to reach an agreement, but we must not give up.”