MK Benny Begin
MK Benny BeginYonatan Sindel, Flash 90

In an exclusive interview with Arutz Sheva, MK Ze'ev Binyamin "Benny" Begin (Likud) slammed the Jewish Home party for the Regulation law and and justified his vote against it, saying he'd "already brought down the government after it gave away Israeli land."

"This coalition is all about threats and extortion," Begin said. "One person threatens the other, one party threatens the other, eight mandates threaten the entire coalition. It's not okay to use threats to pass extremist laws."

"Even if I knew that because of my vote the coalition would fall apart, I would still have voted against the Regulation Law and brought down the government.

"No one is going to threaten me. I brought down the government when it gave away parts of Israel. No one should be to lecturing me," Begin said.

On Tuesday, Channel 2 reported Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit refused to defend the Regulation Law in court, and will argue the Supreme Court's stance instead of the Knesset's.

It is not yet clear if Mandelblit himself will attend, or if he will send an appointee instead.

The Israeli government has hired a private lawyer to defend the law instead of Mandelblit.