Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid went head-to-head in a stormy Knesset debate on Monday, in which the rival politicians argued over a range of issues, including relations with the US, responsibility for the October 7, 2023, attack, and the coalition’s bill regulating Haredi conscription and exemptions.

The session was a so-called 40-signature debate, which the opposition can compel the prime minister to attend once a month by collecting the requisite number of signatures from MKs. This debate was initiated by Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party and was titled “The extremist government acting contrary to the Zionist majority and harming national cohesion and the core values of the State of Israel.”

But the central speeches in the debate came from Netanyahu, who chairs the Likud party, and Lapid, who heads the centrist Yesh Atid. The two men’s remarks, taking aim at one another, came as politicians are gearing up for elections due to take place by late October.

Netanyahu touted his close relationship with US President Donald Trump, repeated his vow to stymie the Iranian nuclear program, and defended some of his government’s controversial endeavors, such as the Haredi draft exemption bill and a politically-appointed commission to investigate the October 7 attack.

He also blasted the opposition for its criticism of his foreign policy, saying, “You were completely wrong, the whole way through, in understanding the diplomatic reality.”

Lapid took the prime minister to task over the October 7 attack, negative net migration from Israel, recent inflammatory statements by Netanyahu’s coalition members, and the draft bill, which Lapid said would “promote evasion.”

He also claimed that the government he co-led with former prime minister Naftali Bennett from mid-2021 through 2022 ran the country better than Netanyahu. He asked voters, “Are you better or worse off than you were three years ago?”

Netanyahu spoke at length about his recent trip to Florida to meet with Trump last week. He said his close personal relationship with Trump, and the deep ties between the two countries, are “a recipe for the continuation of our series of achievements in 2026 as well.”

He said that Israel and the US “agree on the big things,” and allowed that there “are different approaches over certain points.” But he said the two sides work out the differences, at times like a family.

He said that he and Trump dealt extensively with attempts to bring back the body of the last hostage held in Gaza, Master Sgt. Ran Gvili.

He added that he and Trump would “not allow Iran to........

© The Times of Israel