Yair Lapid today in the plenary (Photo: Knesset Channel Noam Moskovich/Danny Shem Tov)
The last speech: Member of Knesset Yair Lapid, today (Thursday) went up to address the plenum immediately after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu finished introducing the members of his new government.
At the beginning of his remarks, Lapid said: “The inauguration of the government is the passing 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 Israeli Knesset and the citizens of Israel an orderly report on the state of the country. Out of respect for the position, I would like to bring before the Knesset the factual data on what the government did first under the leadership of Naftali Bennett, which is the moment to send him a big thank you from here, and then under my leadership. In order to prevent attempts to rewrite history, it should be clear what the state of the country was at the moment of the transfer of power.”
“Incoming Prime Minister Netanyahu said in a series of interviews that his first priority task is to contain Iranian intensification. I agree with him, this is indeed the first priority threat, and we have dealt with it a lot in the last year and a half. Contrary to all the predictions and prophecies of outrage, our government managed to stop the re-signing of the nuclear agreement with Iran. It involved complex political work, most of it under the radar, in front of the American administration, and also in front of Europe.”
At this stage of the speech, MK Iman Odeh, the leader of the joint list on behalf of Hadash, began to shout at Lapid: “Shame on you, liars” – and was removed from the plenary.
Lapid continued his speech and said: “The result is known: the agreement was not signed, the sanctions on Iran remained in force and were even extended. The Revolutionary Guards were not removed from the list of terrorist organizations. Iran’s open files at the International Atomic Energy Agency were not closed.”
“During our term of office, Israel carried out a series of overt and covert actions to prevent Iranian intensification. We increased the effort to prevent Iranian entrenchment in Syria, but Israel’s long hand also reached far beyond that. All of this was done in an intense and sometimes poignant dialogue with the Americans, but also while strengthening Israel’s position in the United States. We did not pay political prices. We did not agree to the opening of the American consulate in East Jerusalem.”
“Of course, we did not agree – contrary to some publications and statements – to give the Americans any veto rights over Israeli actions. We did not, of course, agree to international investigations of IDF soldiers and their commanders. We laid the foundations for full Saudi accession to the “Abraham Accords”. The confidential details will of course be passed on to the incoming prime minister. If the new government continues on the path we have carved out, it is possible to reach full normalization with the Saudis within a short period of time.”
Lapid also said: “After many, many years, we brought back the policy of targeted countermeasures against the leaders of the terrorist organizations. I want to clarify, since we have heard a lot of unfounded talk on the subject, the instructions to open fire are clear to every soldier in the IDF: if someone tries to kill you, kill him. Despite all the threats and contrary to the past, we insisted on holding the flag parade in Jerusalem along the original route, we held the Jerusalem Day celebrations as an orderly. We maintained the status quo on the Temple Mount, but a record number of Jews came to visit the Mount in the past year. The month of Ramadan passed quietly this year.”
Lapid concluded his words by saying: “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 be back soon.”