Knesset member Boaz Bismuth (Likud) strongly criticizes the fact that Israeli protesters arrived to demonstrate against Prime Minister Netanyahu during his diplomatic visit to the United States.
Bismuth: "Listen, protest is something very legitimate, opposition is legitimate, even wanting to overthrow a government is super legitimate, security and investigative media is legitimate. What's not legitimate? To deface a state symbol, to embarrass a prime minister, that's absolutely illegitimate, and that's exactly what they did today."
"Look, my big disappointment in the Knesset, and I said it to my opposition colleagues, there are moments in life when a nation unites, there are moments when the opposition and the coalition say, 'For one moment, we are Israel,' and if we are together, and we are Israel, we cannot allow them to disgrace the State of Israel. Are you embarrassing the Prime Minister? And more than that, look how much worse it is when you go to the UN, where Netanyahu will give a speech, you can assume that he will talk about the Iranian nuclear threat, you can assume that he will talk about our enemies, and you write through some 'initiative' they have, some fund like that, and you write on it, 'Don't believe him, he's a liar,' or something like that, tell me, is that reasonable? Does it make sense? When they project an image of the Prime Minister in San Francisco on the 'Alcatraz' prison, the most heinous prison in the world, dressing him in prisoner's clothes, tell me, is that legitimate?"
On the other hand, regarding the statement 'aligning with Israel's enemies,' we are talking about patriotic Israelis expressing their protest:
"Tell me, what did the Prime Minister actually say? If I were the Prime Minister, I wouldn't have issued this clarification at all; I think this clarification is entirely unnecessary, and I'll tell you why: What did the Prime Minister actually say? He didn't say that the protest now has a nuclear project; he didn't say that the protest is joining forces with the PLO to support terrorism, he didn't say that. He spoke about harming the State of Israel. When they go there and tarnish a symbol, a symbol of the country, a Prime Minister, what can you do? It's a symbol of a country. When you belittle it, degrade it, and tell the world not to believe it, then tell me, isn't that harming the country? It is harm."
"Now, the protest - what can we do - In Israel, they've already blocked roads, and of course, we as Knesset members, as elected officials, have already experienced these actions. God forbid, don't get me wrong, I'm not whining, and I'm not afraid of them continuing to protest against me. I have no problem with that. But there's one thing that is a red line, and that red line is the State of Israel. They must not harm the State of Israel. And I'll tell you something, I can already see those who will watch my interview with you and say, 'Wait a minute, so you're allowed to undermine Israeli democracy?' And those people know very well. Now, the Clause of Reasonability has passed, and they'll continue to record us in the media and protest, and democracy thrives, and it will remain that way, which is excellent. On the other hand, what they did yesterday is certainly harming the State of Israel."
"The reform is alive, and this reform is good"
Your response to what the Prime Minister said yesterday in his conversation with Elon Musk, that Yariv Levin's initial proposal was extreme, and he worked to find a compromise, what does that say about the past nine months?
"Look, you know very well that for everything a Prime Minister says, there are a thousand interpretations. It's time for us to say things clearly: the reform is alive, and this reform is good, and this reform has come to balance the authorities. But, most importantly, or what I believe is most important in the priorities of the reform, by the way, is changing the committee for selecting judges, and on this, the Prime Minister will not give in, and neither will the coalition."
"We want it with understanding, if there won't be understanding, then the understanding will be within our coalition, and we'll handle it well. What did the Prime Minister actually say? That he has reservations about the vote on the 61-seat majority, but he also said it earlier. Many coalition members also said it earlier, so what did he really say? So everything is fine; it's time to wish, what do I mean by 'it's time'? We will wish for the State of Israel and the people of Israel to have a good year and a sweet reform."