It was a national embarrassment.
Incoming prime minister Naftali Bennett was making his maiden speech ahead of being sworn in as head of the “change” coalition, which cobbled together the most diverse group of parties Israel has ever seen.
Bennett went out of his way, as he should have, to thank outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his ceaseless efforts and years of service to the country. Instead of a gracious reception and an orderly transfer of power, Bennett was met with a malicious, preplanned verbal attack of chaos and venom directed at him and the new coalition.
The religious-Zionist parties in the opposition staged a walkout, and Likud MKs – about to lose their ministries and headed for the back benches of the Knesset – refused to let Bennett speak, interrupting him with nonstop heckling and catcalls, without a modicum of respect that should be allotted to an incoming prime minister.
Bennett kept his composure and ad-libbed a smart retort, announcing to the Likud MKs that “the tone of your screams is as loud as your failures” in leading the country.
The situation became so dire that incoming foreign minister Yair Lapid wisely decided to forgo his planned speech to the plenum.
For his part, Netanyahu received his fair share of heckling as well, but his speech was far more antagonistic and aggressive than Bennett’s. There was no sign of goodwill, no acknowledgment of stepping down, and no indication that he’s going to sit quietly in the opposition.
On the contrary, Sunday’s Knesset debacle revealed that the new coalition is not going to receive an iota of a grace period to prove itself. The opposition will be down its throat from day one.
The shameful scene also revealed that indeed, it was high time for the outgoing members of the government to head to the opposition. As Lapid said, their behavior reminded him why it was so important to replace them. Their concept of democracy and free speech has been distorted beyond recognition by too much time in power.
What took place at the Knesset on Sunday, when the country’s legislators should have been reveling in the democratic process and marking the transition of power with grace, goodwill and poise, instead became a blatant, transparent attempt to rob the new government of its legitimacy.
The Israelis who respect and love that democratic process see through that transparency and are willing to give the Bennett-Lapid government a chance to prove itself. As for the Likud? In a day that will go down in infamy, they’ve shamed themselves and the country for which they claim they serve.