Negev, Galilee, and National Resilience Minister Itshak Waserlauf (Otzma Yehudit) on Monday harshly criticized the opposition leaders, MKs Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) and Benny Gantz (National Unity), accusing them of attempting to upset the stability of Israel's government. "Benny, Yair, you lost democratic elections, you are a weak opposition," Waserlauf wrote. "You lost in your attempts to bring down the government by democratic means, and now you have come together to try to carry out a coup in an undemocratic fashion." He continued, "Invalidating laws, political investigations, calls for rebellion, you are burning the clubhouse. You have gone insane. You are 'burning the granaries' (an expression based on how an extremist Jewish faction burned silos filled with food during Rome's 2nd Temple siege of Jerusalem, causing famine and defeat), and your actions are irresponsible. Instead of calming things, you are pouring gasoline [on the fire]." Waserlauf warned: "If you think that in a coup, you will rise to power, you are wrong. There will be no coup, because it simply will not be allowed to happen. And when the balloon pops and the attempted coup collapses into the Kaplan [protests] and on to former generals, law and order will bring to justice all those who tried to violate them." Related articles: If government doesn't obey Supreme Court, everything will end Zvi Sukkot demands that the Ethics Committee act against Lapid Israeli Left once again urges civil disobedience Netanyahu criticizes the judicial system, sparking a firestorm At a rally on Saturday night , Lapid blasted the government for attempting to dismiss ISA chief Ronen Bar, despite the fact that the ISA knew, but failed to warn the government of the October 7 massacre until ten minutes before it happened. "We have come here to tell Einav Zangauker (mother of hostage Matan Zangauker -ed.) - you are not alone," Lapid said. "Nothing is as important as the hostages, but we came to also tell [Attorney General] Gali Baharav-Miara : You are not alone. To tell Ronen Bar: You are not alone. To tell Justice Yitzhak Amit: You are not alone." Amit was elected President of the Supreme Court despite clear evidence that he had not recused himself from cases in which he had a conflict of interest, and proof that he appeared in a legal case under a different name. Israel Police refused to investigate the matter. "If the government of October 7th decides not to listen to the Supreme Court's ruling, it will become a criminal government," Lapid added. "We will not be attending [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu's insane theater. In such a case, the economy will need to grind to a halt, we will organize a tax rebellion, we will oppose all forms of refusal, we will not be partners in the destruction of democracy." Bar's dismissal was approved by the Israeli government , which by law, is the only body authorized to confirm or dismiss ISA chiefs. The Supreme Court, however, decided to suspend Bar's dismissal, in defiance of existing laws and precedents. Democrats chief MK Yair Golan also spoke at the rally, saying, "I call on my friends, [MK] Gadi Eisenkot (National Unity), [MK] Yair Lapid, and [MK] Benny Gantz (National Unity) - let us unite. This is not the time for petty politics. This is the time to form a single democratic front - powerful, stable, determined." "From here, we declare that we are starting a war to save Israel. From here, we are announcing that we are stopping the country. We will mess things up. We will strike. We will stop the country - all in order to save it."
