A request by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that ministers leave their phones by the door is the best thing a desperate Netanyahu can do, said Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein.
Speaking to Army Radio, Edelstein said that secretly recording the Prime Minister during closed meetings was as bad as stealing secret documents and displaying them in the media.
“Exposing statements by the Prime Minister in this manner is a very unworthy, and I do not believe it is respectful of the public,” most of whom would not want their private thoughts to be exposed to the public either, Edelstein said.
Netanyahu made the warning at a Likud faction meeting on Wednesday, after Army Radio played a recording of the Prime Minister discussing Arab incitement.
Netanyahu is heard saying that destroying the Al-Aqsa Mosque would not be difficult, if a Jewish terror cell had in mind to do so. He noted that such a measure would go "against our values."
Such comments are meant for “internal consumption,” and not for media exposure, Netanyahu told Likud MKs, in a recording that was also broadcast on Army Radio.
“People have lost their careers because of these recordings,” Netanyahu stressed, finding backing from several top Likud politicians.