Responding to a letter sent to coalition members by MK Zeev Elkin, chairman of Binyamin Netanyahu's coalition in the Knesset, Kadima accused him of trying to prevent freedom of speech. In the letter, Elkin said that any coalition member who voted against the government's stances in any Knesset vote would be "punished."

"The attempt to threaten Mks removes from them their freedom of speech," a letter circulated by Kadima said Tuesday. "This is a warning sign of further erosion of the standing of Knesset members as the public's emissaries," the letter said.