Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu responded on Sunday to the understandings reached between MK Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi of Meretz and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, which will allow Zoabi to remain in the coalition.
Netanyahu said that "Bennett and Lapid are willing to do anything in order to survive in power and for this purpose they are paying huge sums, from your money, the taxpayers, to the haters of Israel and the supporters of terrorism on which their government depends."
"They have already paid 50 billion shekels to [Mansour] Abbas, last week they paid 200 million to Tibi for some road he demanded, and today they paid hundreds of millions to Zoabi. They have money for that. What do they not have money for? Our proposal to complete the scholarships for fighters to 100%, a total increase of 50 million shekels."
"They have no money for that, suddenly they need the Likud for that. These hypocrites should stop with this nonsense. Let them put their hand in Zoabi's pocket, Tibi's pocket and Abbas' pocket, and give 100% to our fighters because they deserve 100%. And if they do not, the government that we will soon form, with God’s help, the first thing it will do is give 100% to our fighters," the former Prime Minister promised.
Former Finance Minister MK Yisrael Katz of the Likud said, "During my tenure as Finance Minister, I was told by all the legal advisers that money must not be guaranteed in exchange for a pledge of Knesset members' votes, and here Lapid and his friends promise hundreds of millions to MK Zoabi in return for her support. Such hypocrisy. Why is no legal adviser saying something?"
Yamina: Bibi screams hysterically to cover up his lies
The Yamina party rejected Netanyahu's criticism of the understandings between Lapid and MK Zoabi, saying, "The reason Bibi is screaming hysterically in the video is to cover up his lies. He knows the truth: no new funds were promised to MK Rinawie Zoabi."
"What was discussed with her is the opening of barriers to existing budgets from the five-year plan approved by the government within the existing budget, in the areas of education, infrastructure, employment and more. This was the case in the previous government and is the case in the current government and that is the right thing to do. The real alliance is that of Ben Gvir, Bibi and Tibi, who continue to cooperate to ensure that the ‘From Uniform to University’ law doesn’t pass," added Yamina.