The Kadima party called a press conference on Monday to criticize Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin's decision to postpone votes in the plenum on social welfare bills it had put forward this week.
MKs Meir Shitrit, Dalia Itzik, Yoel Hasson, Shlomo Molla, and Nachman Shai also took aim at Rivlin, saying he had failed to meet the standards of impartiality required of a speaker - accusing him of using his position as Speaker to campaign for President.
"A very serious thing happened in the Knesset today," Sheetrit said. "The coalition chairman and Speaker decided that because of the Eid el Adcha [a muslim festival -Ed] they would delay voting on our bills until next week. In addition, Knesset committees are also refusing to vote on our bills until next week. They are making a mockery out of the Knesset. This is shameful - we just came back to work from [the Jewish] holidays."
"Unfortunately," Sheetrit accused, "[Rivlin] has a conflict of interest between his duty to remain neutral and his desire to be our next President. The Speaker of the Knesset is supposed to be impartial and not worry about future roles. Today the Speaker and Coalition Chairman [Zeev Elkin] are in a panic because they don't know what to do about our bills."
"With all due respect to Speaker of the Knesset," Sheetrit added immediately after lambasting Rivlin. "As a member of the old Knesset, I don't recall this ever happening. The coalition found an excuse – the Eid al Adcha – to avoid the flood of social bills Kadima has put forward, like the flat tax reductions, reducing water prices for the elderly, the reduction in VAT on basic goods, and more."
Kadima, the largest opposition party, which has always billed itself as 'center-right,' has staked out Israel's social protests - led by radical left-wing activists - as a campaign issue in future elections.
Critics say that in doing so, Kadima has abandoned its voter base to compete with the Labor party, now led by leftist ideologue Shelly Yechimovitch – which has shot ahead of Kadima as the most popular opposition party in the polls.