Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked on Tuesday blasted the opposition which worked to ensure that the Citizenship Law did not pass in a vote in the Knesset, and did not spare MK Amichai Chikli of her Yamina party from criticism.
"The issue of the Family Unification Law, it is a very complex issue. It was Bezalel Smotrich who mainly harmed the interests of the state. It is a national irresponsibility. We should have achieved a majority - but we should say that never has a national opposition party opposed this law before, we must do everything to approve it," Shaked charged.
Responding to the Likud's claim that there was a behind-the-scenes deal with the Arab parties, she said, "The agreement was about a total of 1,600 Palestinians. We will get a majority and make sure the law passes. Smotrich knows how important the law is, I did not believe he would not vote with us. Only yesterday afternoon did I see that they were going to betray their values and vote against this law."
She also commented on MK Chikli, who voted against the law. "Meretz and Ra'am took tough steps, but the one who made sure the law didn’t pass was Amichai Chikli, who voted against it, against the Shin Bet and against the Jewish state. We will not talk here about what to do with him. Today many representatives of the opposition understand the mistake. I will try to bring the law to a vote again in the coming weeks, there are currently 15,000 Palestinians who can apply for citizenship."
The Likud responded to Shaked's remarks, saying, "We are proud that last night we stopped the clearance sale by Bennett and Shaked to Mansour Abbas, including granting citizenship to thousands of Palestinians."
"She who broke all her promises to the public and formed a dangerous government with Meretz and Ra'am will not preach morality to us. We will bring the Basic Law of Immigration - the only law that will prevent Palestinian infiltrators into Israel - and see if Shaked votes for it," the party added.
The Religious Zionist party said, "This has already become a method. Ayelet is lying again. Ayelet sold the vital interests of the State of Israel to Mansour Abbas. We denied the Palestinian right of return yesterday. Her partners say she sold them entry permits to thousands of Palestinian families in exchange for preserving her seat and ensuring her political survival."
"As we have repeatedly said this is a dangerous government which should be overthrown as soon as possible. Fortunately, we are already seeing cracks in this strange coalition. They will continue to work for their Knesset seat, we will continue to work for the people of Israel," the party said.