Lior Schleien: Protesters won’t let government carry out overhaul plans

Speaking in Haifa, comedian Lior Schleien says protesters will not allow the government to go through with its plans.

At rallies in Tel Aviv, “the question everyone has been asking since January repeats: What will happen? They want a dictatorship here, what will happen? They want to take over the courts, oh no, what will happen? Bibi the liar and the corrupt gang that surrounds him, they have a majority in the Knesset, what will happen?” Schleien says, using Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nickname.

“After three months of war against this terrible government, with the disorderly coup d’état they are planning, I think we all already know the answer: We won’t let them. That is what will happen,” he says.

Schleien hails the diversity of protesters, declaring “the liberal camp is standing up, and it is huge and wonderful.”

Commenting on pro-overhaul protests, Schleien says: “They are not our enemies. They are Israelis like us, and wretched politicians lied to them. They promised them security, and promised them Jewish power.”

“What has been happening in Israel for the past three months is the opposite of security, the opposite of Jewish power: [Palestinian] attacks follow attacks, innocent Israelis are murdered, and in the midst of all this the prime minister fires the defense minister just because he feels like it,” Schleien says, referencing Netanyahu’s decision to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, which was met with furious protests and appears to be on hold.

“The foolish and irresponsible government is destroying relations with the United States, ripping apart the IDF from within, and is threatening to eliminate the High Court. The High Court allows us to operate in the West Bank without the world rising up against us,” he says.

Schleien slams a proposed national guard subordinate to Ben Gvir, asking: “Is this security?”

He urges protesters to “only trust ourselves,” and not to believe the prime minister, who froze the overhaul’s legislative process, or even President Isaac Herzog who is leading talks on a compromise on the reforms, or opposition party heads Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, “who once again fell into the trap of the liar, Netanyahu.”

“They didn’t understand this protest when we started it, and they still don’t understand today: There can be no compromise on democracy,” Schleien says.