Yair Lapid, Shai Piron and Yael German
Yair Lapid, Shai Piron and Yael GermanFlash90

MK Yaakov Asher of the hareidi-religious Yahadut Hatorah (United Torah Judaism) party slammed Finance Minister Yair Lapid, the head of Yesh Atid, in a speech to Knesset on Tuesday evening.

Asher accused Lapid of having backed a civil marriage bill with the deliberate goal of inciting pointless arguments between secular and religious Israelis.

“This morning it was announced that Yesh Atid submitted a bill on civil marriage to the Knesset. These days, when the Finance Minister sees his party crashing in the polls and turning into faction with under 10 seats, when a poll is published showing that under five percent of Israelis think he is worthy of being the Prime Minister… When there is no light at the end of the tunnel regarding the economic situation, the Finance Minister and his advisors are looking for an escape route,” he said.

“Yet again, he drags out his old, trusty weapon: he submits a bill that he knows will not pass, because the Bayit Yehudi party will not support it. It’s worthwhile for him to submit this bill, because there will be another argument between religious and secular Israelis,” Asher accused.

“Under the cover of the smoke of the fight, and the incitement, the public will forget his lack of professionalism and his failure as a Finance Minister,” he continued.

There is no need for concern over the bill, because it has no chance of passing, he declared. “Yair Lapid cares more about his ‘civil partnership’ with Naftali Bennett,” he said.

“It’s just that along the way he wants to give him a pinch in order to embarrass him, as if he hasn’t humiliated him enough in the past,” he concluded.