The Likud challenged Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked to bring down Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s government on Wednesday night after Channel 12 revealed taped conversations of her attacking her fellow ministers.
In the private conversations, Shaked warned that Defense Minister Benny “Gantz will break up the [government],” called Foreign Minister Yair Lapid “shallow” and said that “every week Lapid causes an international incident that Bennett has to fix.”
אביר קארה עזב את קבוצת הווטסאפ של ימינה, אחרי שכתב: ״מפלגה של מטומטמים״
— עמית סגל Amit Segal (@amit_segal) October 27, 2021
Shaked told her confidant that the rotation for prime minister between Bennett and Lapid is “far from guaranteed,” adding “I don’t know. We’ll see if there will be a crisis.” She apologized to Lapid after the recordings were revealed.
The Likud responded by saying “the time has come for actions and not talking.”
אביר @AbirKara2, איך אתה מסוגל להישיר מבט לי ול-1.8 מיליון אנשים עם מוגבלויות ולטעון שחובת ההנגשה היא קומוניזם??פגיעה ב-1.8 מיליון אנשים עם מוגבלות היא בריונות. צרכי העסקים הפרטיים (הלגיטימיים) לא סותרים את הנחיצות להנגשה עבור אנשים עם מוגבלות. האמירה שלך טובלת בפופוליזם זול! pic.twitter.com/TcCTSsUI0C
— שירלי פינטו Shirly Pinto (@ShirlyPinto) October 27, 2021
There were additional fierce disputes inside Bennett’s government on Wednesday. Following attacks on Labor leader Merav Michaeli by Blue and White that were deemed chauvinistic by Michaeli’s associates, Labor tweeted an attack on Gantz’s decisions to designate six Palestinian NGOs as supporters of a terror organization and to authorize further West Bank settlement housing.
“Those who make declarations on diplomatic issues with international consequences irresponsibly without coordination or preparation and authorize construction of 3,000 housing units in Judea and Samara – shall we say – Rabin he’s not,” Labor tweeted.
Blue and White responded by accusing Michaeli of calling for draft dodging and said she “shouldn’t preach to us about responsibility on diplomatic and security issues.”
Michaeli’s associates then responded that Gantz “hasn’t gotten over it that he’s not prime minister.”
Bennett convened an emergency meeting with Yamina MKs on Wednesday night following a dispute between MKs Abir Kara and Shirly Pinto.
Kara left the party’s internal Whatsapp group, calling his colleagues “a party of idiots.” He later rejoined the group.
Earlier on Wednesday, Pinto attacked Kara on Twitter for insulting handicapped people.
“Abir Kara, how can you look at the 1.8 million people with disabilities and say that the obligation to make places accessible is communism?” she asked. “Hurting these 1.8 million people is bullying. The (legitimate) needs of private businesses do not contradict the need for accessibility. Your statement was cheap populism!”
Bennett said after the meeting that he believes it is healthy that there are disagreements in his faction.
"Abir fights for every business, and Shirley fights for everyone with a disability who cannot live a normal life in Israel," Bennett said. "I am happy everyone internalized the need for tolerance and cooperation for mutual goals."