Yisrael Beytenu chairmen Avigdor Liberman said Saturday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "deserves the Nobel Prize in political charlatanism."
Speaking at a cultural event held in Rishon Letzion, Liberman made the comments in reference to a new bill proposed by Netanyahu that would allow 90 MKs to vote to suspend a colleague. Liberman said Netanyahu was actively undermining democracy for his own political benefit and that his actions were "dangerous." He noted that if the bill were to become law, its use in the future may be directed towards any minority or opposition movements.
"It is make-believe legislation against Balad," Liberman said. "There is no chance at all that there will ever be a majority to fire Arab MKs, because the Left will never let it happen. Meanwhile, the prime minister is torpedoing Yisrael Beytenu's legislation, which can actually enable the disqualification of inciting Arab MKs. This is classic Israbluff from the school of Netanyahu."The bill was introduced after members of the Balad faction of the Joint List party visited the families of terrorists who have been killed during a months-long terror wave which began in September 2015. Last week, the Knesset Ethics Committee suspended Balad’s three MKs from all Knesset activity except for voting for up to four months, days after the lawmakers met with terrorists’ families.
Liberman said there were plenty of alternatives to Netanyahu and that it was clear to MKs in Likud and their coalition partners that it was time for Netanyahu to go.
The Likud said in response that if Liberman has so much to contribute, he should join the government rather than remaining in the opposition with Balad.
Lahav Harkov contributed to this report.