Referencing ‘spies’ Torah portion, PM pans those who ‘weaken people’s spirit’

On Friday, Prime Minister Netanyahu posted a message on Facebook referencing the weekly Torah portion and the attempts to form a government booting him from power:

“In this week’s Torah reading, we read about the spies — representatives of the Israeli people who spread false reports about the Land and weakened the spirit of the people out of concern for their own personal interests,” he wrote.

“Two members of this group did not agree to lie. Yehoshua Bin-Nun and Calev Ben-Yefuneh contradicted [the others] and assured the people of Israel: “The land we traversed and scouted is exceedingly good.

“The Land is exceedingly good, and in our generation too, in our time, those who were elected with the votes of the right must stand up and do the right thing: establish a strong, good, right-wing government that will protect the Land of Israel, the citizens of Israel and the State of Israel.”

(With the exceptions of Yehoshua and Calev, the spies are said to have been struck down by a plague and died.)