Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu told Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in the Knesset plenum on Monday that he is responsible for the deaths of nearly 3,000 people who passed away from COVID-19 in recent months.
Speaking at a special Knesset debate requested by the opposition, Netanyahu said the first 1,000 died because Bennett took too long to bring the third round of vaccines. He said the remainder died due to the government’s policies since then.
“You, Bennett, did nothing to save these lives,” Netanyahu told the prime minister. “Do you call this impotent behavior a policy? With God’s help, we will get out of this wave, like the rest of the world. But it will be not because of Bennett but despite him.”
Bennett responded by making a gesture with his hand near his head, indicating that he thought Netanyahu was crazy.
Regarding the Pegasus spyware affair, Netanyahu likened the police’s use of the program to the IDF using F35s against Israeli citizens.
“This is a black day for Israel,” he said.
The Knesset voted 55-53 in favor of Bennett’s statements to the plenum.
Earlier, Bennett spoke and told Netanyahu that the citizens of Israel forced him out due to his failures.
Religious Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich became the first MK to submit a bill calling for the dispersal of the Knesset on Monday.
Smotrich said he was submitting the bill due to the Pegasus affair.
“The current government has a conflict of interest, so it cannot make necessary changes and earn the public’s trust,” Smotrich said.