The ruling Yamina party castigated the Likud, and in particular Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu, over the party’s decision to vote against the Citizenship Law.
Senior Yamina officials blasted Netanyahu, comparing him to Joint Arab List MK and former Yasser Arafat adviser Ahmed Tibi, whose faction also voted against the citizenship law.
“The Opposition, led by Bibi and Tibi, failed to topple the government, but together they managed to directly harm Israel’s security and surrender its borders.”
“This is what petty politics looks like when it’s done at the expense of Israel’s citizens. This is the reason they’re in the Opposition, and there they will remain.”
“As far as Bibi is concerned, if he isn’t in the government, the whole country can go up in flames for all he cares. This government will fix what he and his friends did.”
Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked (Yamina) said: “Anyone who missed seeing MKs from the Likud and the Religious Zionist Party celebrating with [Joint Arab List MKs] Ofer Cassif and Sami Abu Shehadeh never saw anything so insane. Together, they blocked the Citizenship Law, a law important to Israel’s security and character. What a big victory for post-Zionism.”
Sources in Yamina told Arutz Sheva that the faction is considering declaring MK Amichai Chikli a rogue MK after he voted against the bill.
The Likud pushed back on Yamina’s criticism, assailing the government for enlisting support from the United Arab List (Ra’am) to try to pass the bill.
“The corrupt deal cut in the dark of night between Bennett, Lapid, and Shaked with the UAL and Meretz collapsed thanks to the determined efforts of the Opposition, led by Netanyahu. Bennett and Lapid wanted to buy off two MKs from the UAL in exchange for [residency] granted to thousands of people who would have threatened Israel’s Zionist identity and the country’s security.”
Early Tuesday morning, the Knesset rejected the Citizenship Law, which limits the ability of Palestinian Authority residents to acquire Israeli citizenship via family reunification.
The Knesset vote was evenly divided, with 59 MKs voting in favor of the extension of the Citizenship Law, and 59 MKs voting against, with two abstentions.
Two MKs from the United Arab List backed the law, after Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked agreed to grant visas to 1,600 Palestinian Authority residents.