Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday defended his policies against opposition claims that he had not kept his promises in regard to the peace process. Netanyahu's comments came at a special discussion of the Knesset initiated by Kadima, after the opposition party gathered 40 MKs' signatures, therefore obligating the prime minister to listen to their complaints.
Netanyahu defended his policies, blaming the Palestinians for the lack of progress in the peace process in the Knesset and calling on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to condemn a PA report denying the Jewish people's connection to the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
"I'm trying to imagine what the world's reaction would be if Israel would say that Islam had no connection to Mecca or Catholicism had no connection to the Vatican, I say to Abu Mazen [Abbas], condemn this phenomenon. Tell your people 'there is a Jewish nation here that we recognize.'"
"We want a true peace, based on truth, not on spin and lies,"
The prime minister added that Iran, not the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was the main factor causing a lack of stability in the Middle East.
Netanyahu criticized Kadima for not supporting the recently passed Referendum Law.
He stated that Kadima had supported the idea of a referendum in the past and had even been among those that initiated the law.
"Do you want to take the place of the people?" Netanyahu asked. "A referendum is the best option from the moral standpoint," he added.
Netanyahu set off Livni's wrath when he reprimanded her for sending and receiving text messages during his speech in support of the referendum law. "I see that the chairman of the opposition, while I'm talking, is always looking at her cell, reading and typing." he said.
Opposition leader Tzipi Livni responded to Netanyahu, asking him, "When is the last time you told the truth in public? When was the last time that you told the truth to your ministers?"