Kadima chairman demands Knesset censure over Netanyahu's wooing of rogue Kadima MKs
Kadima Chairman Shaul Mofaz gave a scathing Knesset speech Monday, at political turmoil continues to plague Israel's parliament halls following the party's exit from the coalition over the failed attempts to instate universal service in Israel. The move, which threatens the government's stability, has prompted the Likud to court Kadima Knesset members – many of whom were Likud members in the past – and have them return to their political home. So far, MKs Arie Bibi, Otniel Schneller, Avraham Duan and Yulia Shamalov-Berkovich have gone back to the Likud in exchange for government portfolios. The Likud need seven of Kadima's MKs to cross the lines in order to see the party officially split. "Members of the Kadima faction have conducted an insidious campaign and an attempt at political blackmail. This is a shameful move, lacking in dignity and values and led by none other than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu," Mofaz said over the podium."Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who, with his own hands, chose draft-dodgers over those who serve and who has tried to make the disgrace acceptable for aberrant political blackmail. "Mr. Speaker, I expect you to condemn this unworthy act. An act that hurts the public's confidence in its elected officials and undermines the foundations of this Knesset's legitimacy." Speaking of the failed attempted to instate a universal draft, Mofaz said that "Our daughters and sons… hoped that the prime minister would be up to the challenge, would utilize his huge coalition and bring forward a historic change after 64 years of moral injustice. "They did not expect you to trade in votes in order to approve draft-dodging. Disgrace disguised by equality. Those who suggest that the haredi sector be enlisted at the age of 26 do not seek historic change, but rather a social deadlock. "Those who seek to enlist the haredi sector without personal liability and without personal sanctions are not truly interested in change," he stressed. Mofaz continued: "After he understood that there was no majority for dishonor in the Knesset, the prime minister added insult to injury through political blackmail. "(…) Blackmail is a two-way street. There is the side that gives and the side that receives. The giver and the receiver are equally abominable. And what low moral values they encompass." Netanyahu, he blasted, "Is a prime minister who never misses a chance to miss a chance... We have a PM who freezes when faced with once in a lifetime opportunities, who runs away from responsibility and is afraid to make a decision. Because the motto in the Prime Minister's Office is 'what can be postponed to tomorrow should be postponed for the day after tomorrow.' "The prime minister decided to conspire towards a disgrace that would enable draft-dodging. What a shameful disgrace," Mofaz continued.
