In a special session held with the Prime Minister's participation in the Knesset plenum, mandated according to Knesset rules by the signatures of 40 opposition Knesset members, MK Yisrael Eichler (United Torah Judaism) attacked Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman.
"Everything I want to say about the bloodthirsty anti-Semitism that rages against the Torah and its students, I cannot say; 'Woe to me if I speak, woe to me if I don't speak' (paraphrasing a Talmudic saying,ed.) ... So I'll talk about Avigdor, the newest addition to the government coup that brings us to the final chord of a long process of unprecedented cruel persecution against the Prime Minister. A persecution in which the majority of the media, the police, the court, and the wealthy left-wing parties take part, all of whom want to topple Netanyahu, but not necessarily because of him. They identified the covenant between Netanyahu, the Traditional, the Right, and those who believe in Jewish values. These values they seek to undermine by means of a deliberately initiated coup."
MK Rabbi Eichler added, "They don't mean Netanyahu personally. It's the Jewish religion that interests them. It was tradition that was anathema to them. They can't bear to see how in Israel there's a rapprochement with Jewish tradition, how more and more Jews are eager to touch the holy Torah a little more. As far as they're concerned, Netanyahu and the Right are the main obstacle to a new Israel. To uproot all Jewish nationalism and to build something universal instead, something that in America is already despised."
Eichler presented the instructions he received from the Council of Torah Sages, "We, the Members of the Knesset, the emissaries of the rabbis, received a clear order from our rabbis through the Council of Torah Sages that before the budget, the status of yeshiva students who learn Torah must be settled. Now we want to fix it, and with G-d's help we will do so."
"The right of the People of Israel to survive comes only through Torah study and practice, because without Torah study there is no existence for the Jewish people, and there is no right to this land. If you deny the Torah, then you are thieves who conquered it. Therefore, regulating yeshiva students' status must pass before the Budget Law."
At one point, Eichler drew angry outbursts from the opposition benches when he turned and directly addressed MK Ahmed Tibi (Joint Arab List): "Without fulfilling the Torah - listen, Ahmed Tibi - they have no right to the Land of Israel," pointing to the opposition. "You were here before them! The only way they came before you was because of our Torah! And if they deny the Torah, tell them 'You're thieves, who conquered the Land of the Seven Nations, as Rashi says in the Torah."
MK Rabbi Eichler turned to Liberman, "the Defense Minister, who has personally proved time and time again that he can overthrow governments: He knew he was collaborating with the worst of the extreme Left. If he depends on a small group of opponents of religion, then Liberman knows, right-wingers will remember this moment, when you toppled a government that was good for the Right, for the religious, for the traditional, for those in whose hearts flow the historical Jewish consciousness.
"When you sit at home below the voter threshold, know that on this day you overthrew a government." MK Rabbi Eichler concluded his speech.