From the Liveblog of
Monday, February 23, 2026
Lapid: Not inviting Supreme Court to Modi’s Knesset speech doesn’t ‘allow us to be there’
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Asked about his threat to boycott Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming Knesset speech unless Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana invites High Court president Isaac Amit to the event, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid tells reporters that “we are not boycotting the plenum, we are being excluded.”
Speaking with the press ahead of Yesh Atid party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, Lapid says he told Netanyahu that the opposition wants to be present because “we need to be there. India is one of the most important countries in the world. It is essential to me that the entire Knesset be there.”
“And what Ohana knows is that by not inviting the president of the Supreme Court, he is not allowing us to be there. It turns this into a Knesset of half a country,” he says. “I really beg the prime minister to make sure that they do not boycott us during Modi’s visit. We want to be there.”
Amit has been excluded from multiple Knesset events to which he would have traditionally been invited, including speeches by US President Donald Trump and several other world leaders.
Asked why he did not boycott previous speeches by foreign leaders, Lapid replies that Amit’s absence went under the radar until Trump’s visit last October, when Ohana briefed reporters shortly before the president’s speech.
“We didn’t want to blow up a meeting with an American president at any moment. That’s why I’m warning in advance,” Lapid says.
The Times of Israel Community.