MK Yoav Kisch (Likud) on Friday abruptly ended an interview with Channel 12 News after the interviewer sought to have him listen to two discharged IDF soldiers who wished to convey their concerns over the fact that a law promoting university scholarships to IDF soldiers would not be passed in the Knesset.

The coalition and opposition have argued in recent weeks over the so-called “From Uniform to University” Law, which would see the state of Israel providing university scholarships to soldiers who have completed their compulsory military service.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid announced they would bring the law to a vote in the Knesset on Monday, in an attempt to humiliate the Likud, which has pledged to vote against it unless it is amended so it provides full scholarships and not partial ones.

Kisch, who was being interviewed remotely on Friday while the two soldiers were in the studio, refused to listen to their concerns and said, "First of all, I'm not sitting in the studio and I respect them very much. I had a meeting with fighters, I do not know if they were there, I cannot even see them. Maybe they were with me in that meeting. There were negotiations with the coalition. So therefore, I tell you clearly, I will not stay because I have said my piece, they know my position."

Asked whether he plans to abandon the interview because IDF soldiers were brought into the studio, he replied, "I sat down with the fighters twice, I also explained to them that there are negotiations with the coalition. I say again - the law begins with a vote on our reservations. If they are able to give billions to [Mansour] Abbas, I expect them to also give 50 million [shekels] to our friends who are there. No one will teach me what fighters are. I will ensure they get 100%, either now or when I return to power."

Kisch refused to hear the soldiers' remarks and chose to end the interview. "I sat with them several times, I cannot even see them. There is no need. I strengthen the fighters, you will receive from us 100%," he stated.

(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)