BICOM

The Knesset opened its winter session yesterday with a ceremonial but acrimonious plenary debate, which exposed tensions between competing factions.

Legislators returned to the Knesset following a three-month break. Yesterday’s special session featured speeches from President Reuven Rivlin, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Isaac Herzog.

Rivlin called for “integrity” among Knesset members adding that it was “a precondition for gaining the confidence of the public in Israeli politics, but it is also a basic precondition for our ability to move forward”.

Echoing a similar theme, Edelstein said: “We have a great responsibility in shaping society. Almost any behaviour and every statement made by an MK incurs reactions, and just as it could at times create a positive discourse, it can also inflame passions.”

As Netanyahu rose to address the plenum, MKs from the Joint Arab List walked out of the Knesset in protest. They were said to be pre-empting a planned boycott of their speeches by coalition MKs after Joint Arab List lawmakers refused to attend the funeral of former President Shimon Peres. Later, as the Joint Arab List advanced a no-confidence motion in the Government, the vast majority of coalition MKs walked out.

Netanyahu gave an overview of the regional situation, calling Israel an “island of stability”. He also addressed one of the Knesset’s immediate legislative issues: the attempt to prevent the opening of a new broadcasting corporation. Netanyahu said that he will “rehabilitate the Israel Broadcasting Authority,” the existing body which is being wound down to make way for the new corporation.

Critics, including members of his own government, accuse Netanyahu of acting purely out of fear that the new body will be critical of his government. Rivlin warned against turning public broadcasting into “a trumpet of the commissars”.

Opposition leader Isaac Herzog launched a sharp attack on Netanyahu, telling him to “grow up” and accept public criticism. He accused Netanyahu of “control, cleansing, oppression, and breaking up the strongholds of democracy,” similar to the principles of “a classic military coup”.