Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the opposition’s claims at the 40-signature debate held in the Knesset Monday evening on the subject of the government’s proposed judicial reforms. The opposition can call for a ’40 signatures debate’ with the signatures of 40 MKs.
Netanyahu began his speech by expressing his condolences to the family of the brothers who were murdered in a terrorist shooting attack in Samaria yesterday (Sunday).
“I would like to send my condolences from the bottom of my heart – to the Yaniv family from Har Bracha, over the murder of their sons and brothers Hillel and Yagel. Both were hesder students, lovers of the people, lovers of the country, lovers of the land. The salt of the earth. Nothing is more terrible for parents than to be informed of the death of their children,” Netanyahu began.
The prime minister called on civilians not to take the law into their own hands: “G-d will avenge their blood, and we will avenge their blood. And when I say ‘we,’ I mean exclusively the defense force of the State of Israel – the IDF and the security forces. They know how to do it. They do it. They reckon with all who lay their hands on us.’
“It’s only a matter of time, and not much time, until we get Hillel and Yagel’s killer. His blood is on his own head. When such a horrific crime occurs, when such an atrocity like the murder of two wonderful boys, brothers, occurs, there is no one whose heart does not break, whose blood does not boil in anger.
Netanyahu said that the current government is “changing the rules” of the fight against terrorism.
“We are working against terrorism through all means at our disposal: thwarting it, operational activity, punishment, and now also legislation: a law deporting the families of terrorists, and a law imposing the death penalty for terrorists – which are things that did not exist before now.
“At the same time, we are normalizing settlements that have been left unregulated for years. We are building thousands more houses, and are proving to our enemies that they will not uproot us from our land. And this is our answer to terrorism: to strike at terrorists, and to deepen our roots in our country.
Netanyahu condemned the riots and arson in the Arab village of Huwara following yesterday’s deadly shooting attack: ”But again – this is our role, that of the government, and tat of the security forces. Despite the passions there is no room for anarchy, and we will not allow anarchy. We will not accept a reality in which people ‘do what is right in their own eyes:’ setting fire to houses, burning cars, and deliberately harming innocents. This is exactly what our enemies want to see: loss of control and an endless cycle of ‘blood and fire and pillars of smoke,” he said, quoting the Passover Haggadah.
He called on the opposition to enter into negotiations on the government’s planned judicial reforms, stating: “Members of the Knesset, I listened to Esti Yaniv, Hillel and Yagel’s mother. Esti and Shalom buried their beloved children today. Esti said yesterday, at the height of her grief, and with an incomparable nobility of spirit: ‘We love the country, we love the army and we want unity.’ I know that a vast majority of Israeli citizens agree with these moving words – we love the state, we love the army, and we want unity.”
“Members of the Knesset, I say this to both the supporters of the [judicial] reform and its opponents, and especially to all who sit in this house: We all love the country. We all have only one home, and we all have only one country. There is one way to lower the level of the flames inside us, and that way is to do a simple thing: start talking. In order to talk, you have to enter a room and talk. I am convinced that with good will, we can reach agreements.
Netanyahu called on the Knesset to “listen to the cry” of the brothers’ mother, “who calls out to us from the depths of her soul to speak and come together. Let’s listen to her. It is clear to me that this is possible.”
“There will be no dictatorship here, no end of democracy, no bulldozing the court, no ‘halakhic state.’ There will be no harm to LGBT people, and none of that other nonsense,” Netanyahu declared.

During the debate, opposition leader Yair Lapid attacked the government, saying: “If you are against liberal democracy, you are against the State of Israel. If you are trying to destroy our democracy, do not call yourself a patriot.”
“If you pass these laws Israel will stop being a democracy and this place will become like the Hungarian Parliament’,’ he said.
Turning to Prime Minister Netanyahu, he said: “Liberal democracy is not just our system of government, it is what we are. That”s why the demonstrators are waving the Israeli flag, hundreds of thousands of Israeli flags. That”s why the Israeli flag is the symbol of resistance to your government.”
He accused Netanyahu and the promotors of the judicial reforms of lying about their readiness to sit down and negotiate a solution to the crisis surrounding the proposed reforms.
“‘Stop this crazy legislation. Take a time out. We will go to the president. In the meantime, get your government in order. Keep the crazy people away from the centers of power. Mainly: stop ripping us off. We will return to being one people,” Lapid said.