The oath of the 37th government: The designated head of the opposition, Yair Lapid, gave his last speech as prime minister today (Thursday) in the Knesset plenum. “The swearing in of the government is the handing over of a baton. With an uneasy heart, we are handing the country over to the elected government. It is appropriate at a moment like this to give the Knesset of Israel and the citizens of Israel an orderly report on the state of the country,” said Lapid. During his speech, Lapid reviewed and listed the achievements of the outgoing government.
Lapid summed up his words and turned to the future government: “We are handing you a country in excellent condition. With a strong economy, with improved security capabilities and a powerful deterrent, with one of the best international status that has ever been here. Try not to destroy it, we will soon be back.”
Netanyahu scolded: “Losing the elections is not the end of democracy”
Before Lapid’s speech, Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the members of the future opposition. “There is broad agreement among us on most of the challenges that lie before us, although by definition not on all of them. I hear the opposition’s constant laments about the ‘end of the state’, ‘the end of democracy’, members of the opposition, losing the elections is not the end of democracy – this is the essence of democracy. A democratic regime is tested first of all by the willingness of the losing side to accept the decision of the majority. In an orderly democracy, the rules of the game are respected.”
Photo: Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90
He also added that “we saw it just now in a different context, in the World Cup games: the French fans were as disappointed as you, but they accepted the result. They even applauded the Argentine team. I know you won’t applaud, but I do expect you to respect the voter’s decision and to stop rebelling against the elected government,” Netanyahu said.
Shouts of “weak” in the plenum against Netanyahu pic.twitter.com/Pqug4MxroU
— Amiel Yerachi (@amiel_y) December 29, 2022