Transportation Minister Israel Katz scolded Beit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett on Sunday for pressuring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of his meeting on Wednesday with US President Donald Trump.
The Bayit Yehudi Party responded to Katz's accusations by saying that it was Katz, not Bennett, who was engaging in petty politics."Katz has been running a campaign to replace Netanyahu, including forming a team of advisers who are helping him plan details to help him replace him [the prime minister]. And now as part of that he is attacking other ministers," a Bayit Yehudi spokeswoman said.
"He should return to dealing with the traffic jam on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway and traffic accidents instead of trying to drag Bayit Yehudi into his personal battles with Netanyahu," she added.Another comment advising Netanyahu on how to proceed before his meeting with the US president came from Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog, who called upon Netanyahu to continue to back a two-state solution in his meeting with Trump. Herzog warned that having one state for Israel and the Palestinians would result in Israel losing its identity as the nation state of the Jewish people."Netanyahu needs to decide if he is flying to the US as the prime minister of Israel or the foreign minister of Naftali Bennett," Herzog said.Zionist Union MK Erel Margalit asked Attorney-general Avichai Mandelblit to prevent Netanyahu from travelling to the US due to the ongoing criminal investigations into alleged wrongdoing by him and his lawyer, David Shimron."Netanyahu must suspend himself from the trip to the US and allow President Reuven Rivlin to represent Israel instead of him," Margalit said. "There is serious concern that he could obstruct th investigation because people from abroad are involved."