MK Elazar Stern, who resigned from the Knesset after leaving Yesh Atid and joining the "Yashar!" party led by Gadi Eisenkot, used his resignation letter to launch a scathing attack on Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana.
According to a report by Yediot Aharonot’s political correspondent Yuval Karni, Stern went beyond a formal resignation letter and accused Ohana of undermining the Knesset's standing and turning it into a political tool serving the government.
"You have effectively abolished the separation of powers in the State of Israel," Stern wrote. "You turned the Knesset into an extension of the government and almost completely eliminated its ability to oversee the government's work. You turned the Knesset into an institution trampled by the government."
Stern continued to accuse the Knesset speaker of using his position to undermine the judicial system and foster divisive rhetoric. "You turned the speaker's chair into a seat occupied with incitement, division and pitting people against one another instead of unity and statesmanship," he wrote.
According to Stern, "There is no doubt that the way you have run the Knesset has also contributed to the deep rift into which the people of Israel have been dragged."
The remarks came after Stern told Yediot Aharonot in an interview that if Gadi Eisenkot forms the next government, he intends to run for Knesset Speaker and replace Ohana.
Ohana responded sharply. "The absurd manifesto scribbled by party-hopping Stern, whose sole purpose is to generate media coverage for election propaganda, deserves the same treatment he allegedly gave to complaints he received about sexual harassment in his capacity as head of the IDF Personnel Directorate - straight into the shredder," the Knesset Speaker said.
Ohana was referring to a 2021 radio interview in which Stern said that he had "shredded many anonymous complaints" while serving as head of the IDF Personnel Directorate. The remark sparked an uproar, and Stern subsequently withdrew from the race to head the Jewish Agency.