Edited by: JV Staff
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the speaker of Israel’s parliament lashed out at the opposition Thursday, saying the current lockout at the Knesset was caused by a ploy from Blue and White leader Benny Gantz’s party to prevent a national unity government, as was reported by World Israel News.
“It’s time to blow the bluff, democracy is not in danger,” Knesset speaker and Likud Party member Yuli Edelstein tweeted. “The whole thing was a splinter group in Blue and White who gave themselves the goal of preventing a unity government.”
WIN reported that minutes earlier, Gantz had tweeted that the coalition talks, barely a few days old, had been halted and accused the Likud of misleading the Israelis under the guise of the coronavirus pandemic.
“What we see throughout the day is cynical spin at the time of a major and difficult crisis for Israeli citizens,” Gantz said on Twitter, denying earlier reports that Blue and White had agreed to a unity government, as was reported by WIN.
The two sides are at tense loggerheads after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called earlier in the week for a government of national unity to fight the coronavirus, with the incumbent prime minister at the helm.
WIN reported that Netanyahu had managed to find only 58 votes, three short of the 61 needed for a slim majority in Israel’s 120-seat parliament. After getting the support of 15 members from the Joint List of Arab parties Gantz will try to form a minority government, but faces an uphill battle to do so before the deadline for presenting his government expires next month.
The current politic crisis was touched off the day after members were sworn in for the new parliamentary session under the growing medical and economic crisis from the worldwide pandemic, as was reported by WIN.
Jewish Voice Commentary:
As the Coronavirus continues to spread like wildfire across Israel, the statistics are not looking good at all. On Thursday, i24News reported that the Israeli Health Ministry announced that there were 244 new coronavirus infections, raising the nation’s cumulative total to 677. This represents the single largest single-day hike in number of confirmed cases in Israel.
Out of those, a minority are said to be in a serious condition or experiencing moderate symptoms, while the vast majority are only showing mild symptoms – or none at all.
For Blue and White leader Benny Gantz to not agree to the formation of an emergency national unity government is beyond appalling. His obstrutctive nature only dispays the fact that he is more interested in political gain for himself than he is in helping to save the lives of his own people who are falling victim to this horrific plague each day.
Gantz would rather gloat about his new found affiliation with his coalition partners in the Joint Arab List than to focus his energies on staving off this deadly virus.
To describe Gantz’s selfish, hedonistic behavior as loathsome would be a gross understatement. Shame on a man who held such a high and noble rank in the Israeli Defense Forces. Shame on a man who erroneously claims that he has the ability to lead Israel in the turbulent years to come. He is nothing but a disgrace and an ugly blot on Israel’s political scene. (World Israel News)
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