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Thursday, June 18, 2009

Opposition MK's sing at Knesset committee to slam Coalition '

(Ynet).The escalating crisis between Israel's coalition and opposition took a musical twist Thursday evening – three Kadima Knesset members broke into song during a Knesset committee meeting, ignored the chairman's pleas to stop, and were eventually forcefully removed by ushers.

The discussion regarding the reform in the Israel Land Administration got underway Thursday morning and featured a long series of biting remarks by opposition and coalition members throughout the day.

However, at one point, Kadima MK Otniel Schnler took out a sheet of paper with the lyrics of a patriotic Israeli song and started singing into the microphone. Meanwhile, two his party members, Yoel Hasson and Nachman Shai, joined the singing.

MK Schnler's later told Ynet that he was protesting the fact that "they want to sell the State of Israel," referring to the proposed land reform, backed by the coalition. Meanwhile, MK Hasson stressed that state-owned land is the "Jewish people's most significant asset," and warned that "it must not be handed over to private hands." MK Shai summed up the bizarre events by saying it was a protest that "came from the heart."

Meanwhile, a planned meeting Friday between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Opposition Chairwoman Tzipi Livni was postponed for the third time. In the meeting, the two were expected to discuss the escalating coalition-opposition crisis, among other issues.