Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) slams the coalition agreements for outrageously discriminating against the ultra-Orthodox. The arrangements for drafting the ultra-Orthodox have not been thought through properly, he claims, and are unworkable.
Moshe Gafni returning to his seat after angrily leaving the Knesset podium on Monday. (Screenshot: Knesset Channel)
To underline his point, Gafni tears up what he says are print-outs of the coalition accords at the end of his address.
Shas’s Ya’akov Margi follows up in similar vein, wondering why the ultra-Orthodox weren’t even offered the opportunity to join the government within the framework of the accords agreed upon by Likud-Beytenu, Yesh Atid and Jewish Home. Even that dignity was not afforded the ultra-Orthodox, even though they would have said no, he says.
He ridicules the talk of a smaller cabinet — noting that the previous cabinet of 30 has been replaced by one with 22 ministers and eight deputies. Do the math, he urges. There’s no difference, no new politics.
“The prime minister won’t run this government,” he claims. “Rather, the sectoral parties… who are deaf to all other sectors.” It’s “a lousy government,” he says. Shas kept you in power these past four years, he tells (the absent) Netanyahu, and yet the prime minister casually threw away the ultra-Orthodox. “We’ll follow the money” from the opposition, he pledges.
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From the Liveblog of
Monday, March 18, 2013
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