Yair Lapid
Yair LapidFlash 90

One week after a marathon session in the Knesset - which saw the controversial Referendum, Governance, and Enlistment Laws passed in absence of the Opposition - several laws came up for vote from Opposition parties on Wednesday. The opportunity was used to lambast current coalition members.

"This is a government of bluffers," MK Yaakov Litzman stated, referring specifically to Finance Minister Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid). Litzman's word were quoted by Channel 10. "Nothing will come of the [hareidi] draft law, but we wrote a get [Jewish divorce document - ed.] between the hareidi parties and Likud." 

"I will not ally myself with a liar," Litzman continued. "The biggest bluffer is the Minister of Finance, who was not drafted and did not learn the core curriculum [like he has been pressing the hareidi community to do - ed.], who is a full anti-Semite [. . .] and who lowers VAT tax for everyone, but not the hareidi community." 

Litzman was referring to the VAT discount being pushed through the Knesset for first-time home buyers, which would only apply to IDF veterans. Critics say the clause was added to the law specifically to exclude the hareidi community, which already receives a number of special benefits from the government. 

MK Jamal Zahalkha (Balad) also called on Lapid to resign, calling him a "racist" and saying "there is no difference between him and [Foreign Minister Avigdor] Liberman." 

Last Friday, Lapid listed his mistakes over his first year in office, admitting that particularly in the field he worked in before politics-  namely media - "I've messed up."

Meanwhile, a poll earlier this month found that Lapid bottoms out the list of public approval for governmental ministers.