Coalition whip and Likud MK David Bitan attends a committee meeting in the Knesset, March 22, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The atmosphere at a cabinet meeting turned awkward on Sunday when a spat over missed plenum votes devolved into remarks about one Likud party member’s weight.
During the meeting, coalition chairman David Bitan chastised Culture Minister Miri Regev for failing to show up for votes, complaining that he always has to track her down to whip up enough votes.
“[I am] fed up with chasing after you,” he said, according to reports.
Regev fired back at Bitan, telling him he does not appear to be doing much chasing.
“If you were chasing me, you would be on a diet,” she reportedly said.
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Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev participates in a meeting of the Knesset Finance Committee on November 30, 2016 (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
At that point, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intervened, banging a gavel on the table and yelling “Ceasefire,” according to Channel 2.
Although the two appeared to have quashed their differences after the meeting, with a photo showing them shaking hands and smiling, the feud between them is said to be long-running, with Bitan having previously removed all of Regev’s aides from Likud groups in the instant messaging app Whatsapp, Channel 2 reported.
Sunday’s flareup came amid a continuing crackdown by Bitan on MKs and ministers over missed votes, almost all of whom the coalition needs present due to its slim majority of only seven seats.
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