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Israel’s parliament descended into pandemonium on Wednesday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisting that Israel “will remain a democracy” while banging his fist in anger at opposition politicians who accused him of lying at the expense of the country’s security.
Mr Netanyahu said during the plenum discussion that opponents were “sowing anarchy in the streets” as protests continue across the country against his latest political decisions and in favour of the return of hostages held in Gaza.
During the past month, major divisions became clearer after Mr Netanyahu tried to fire the head of the country’s internal security agency and the attorney general, advanced controversial reforms of the judiciary and broke the ceasefire deal with Hamas that had allowed the release of dozens of hostages from the enclave.
These actions, along with the recent passing of a controversial state budget, re-energised a protest movement that has dogged the Prime Minister since his far-right coalition came into office.
In his address at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, Mr Netanyahu condemned the opposition’s “demonstrations, your roadblocks, your bonfires, your attacks on police officers”. He accused the opposition of “violence against elected officials” and of threatening to murder him and his family.
“It won’t stop us, it won’t deter us. The tyranny of the small minority will not triumph over the will of the great majority,” he said.
He also doubled down on claims that a “deep state” in Israel was trying to topple him from power. “Democracy isn’t in danger; the rule of bureaucrats is in danger. The deep state is in danger,” he said.
Mr Netanyahu also threatened Hamas, saying that the more the group “persists in its refusal to release our hostages, the more powerful the pressure against them will be”.
“And I say this to Hamas – that includes seizing territory,” he said.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said that Mr Netanyahu heads “the fattest, most wasteful and most reckless government in the history of the country”.
Mr Lapid also blamed the Prime Minister for the resumption of rocket fire from Gaza towards Israel, the security failures that led to the October 7 attacks and rising prices.
Benny Gantz, one of the country’s most senior opposition politicians who for months sat in a unity wartime government with Mr Netanyahu, accused him of mismanaging the conflict and of blocking a state inquiry into the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023.
“We demanded to advance the entry into Rafah and Khan Younis and to move north [into Lebanon] sooner so as not to lose another year,” Mr Gantz said.
“You also know why you are so afraid of a state commission of inquiry that will expose not only your failures and those of your government’s before the massacre, but also your and your government’s underperformance when the war began.”
