As party leaders brokered their terms in coalition negotiations, veteran
MKs had some words of advice for the new Knesset members.
Among
the new incoming members gleaning wisdom from their senior counterparts
was Dov Lipman (Yesh Atid) who is the first American born Knesset
member in 30 years, and who said that he was "excited about starting to
serve."
Speaker of the Knesset, MK Reuven Rivlin warned the
freshman MKs on Sunday, saying that the public is watching them, and
should they fail to carry out their service appropriately then they
could find themselves on the outside after one term.
Rivlin
noted that never has there been such a large new number of incoming
Knesset members. He said that the fact that there are 50 outgoing MKs is
a message from the public and that "we must restore their faith in the
Knesset."
Speaking on the importance of civility in the legislature, and referring to the scandal when former Yisrael Beytenu MK Anastastia Michaeli poured water
on her colleague, former Labor MK Ghaleb Majadle, Rivlin advised the
MKs that "throwing water prevents proper discourse," and he implored the
new members "not to lower the bar by arguing in an embarrassing way."
The
oldest serving MK, Binyamin Ben Eliezer, had similar advice to new
legislators and said that he expects them to restore the public's faith
in the Knesset. "Don't talk until you learn," Ben Eliezer told them.