Coalition Chairman David Bitan (Likud) slammed MK Yehuda Glick (Likud) for his criticism of the PM’s conduct with respect to the coalition crisis and resulting compromise between the PM and Finance Minister Kahlon on the matter of the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC).
What punishment can you impose on a messianic person who only cares about ascending the Temple Mount, and not the Likud or anything else,” Bitan said.
“You’re making him great even though he isn’t great, just because he posted some Tweet against the Likud and the Prime Minister. We’re talking about a messianic man whom I don’t want to punish - I just don’t want to see him,” he continued.
In response, Glick posted on his Facebook page, “The last thing that interests me is arguing with somebody from the party. Whoever has been following my activity in the Knesset knows that I am involved in a variety of issues and, in all of them, I am strict about maintaining a respectful dialogue while listening to others.”
“We were chosen as public servants and, as such, it is expected that we provide answers and explanations. Therefore, a call for answers and explanations is not a problem but rather the most relevant and required thing there is. I am not ashamed of my work on preserving the human rights of Jews on the Temple Mount and in Judea and Samaria communities. It seems to me that we ought to be able to expect respectful dialogue inside our party.”
Last night, following the announcement of a compromise agreement between the PM and Finance Minister which will leave some of the newly-hired IPBC employees unemployed, dozens of IPBC workers protested outside Bitan’s home in Rishon Lezion, and clashed with him at the entrance to his building, while earlier on Saturday evening hundreds of IPBC workers protested outside the government complex in Tel Aviv.
On Thursday, Netanyahu and Kahlon agreed to split the IPBC into two separate corporations, with the IPBC ceding its news division to the Israel Broadcasting Authority whose director will be chosen independently.