Blue and White chairman MK Benny Gantz on Wednesday evening gave a speech in response to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s announcement that he would seek immunity from prosecution.
"This is a tough day for the State of Israel and a sad day for me too. I fought for 38 years for this country. I went into politics to fight for a path and I see it today being led by a person who marginalizes us and endangers the civilian basis upon which we have all been educated that everyone is equal before the law,” Gantz began.
"I never imagined that we would reach the day when the Prime Minister of Israel would refrain from appearing before the judiciary. He only cares about himself and his own destiny. Today it is clear about what we are fighting for. Netanyahu knows he is guilty. A person who thinks there will be nothing, because there is nothing, would not be afraid to stand trial,” he continued.
"Therefore, there will either be an extremist immunity government here or a statesmanlike unity government here. Either immunity first, or the citizens of Israel first. Either the kingdom of Netanyahu, or the State of Israel. Either Netanyahu's interests will prevail, or national interests will prevail," Gantz stated.
He also made it clear that his party would work to prevent the immunity. "We must not downplay what we saw tonight before our eyes. The move that happened this evening is not a technical issue or a time-limited procedure that can be ignored. Blue and White under my leadership will do everything from a legal perspective and work to establish a Knesset committee to prevent immunity for a criminal defendant."