Likud minister: 3 elite unit musketeers shamed us

After Netanyahu admits more Kadima members may join Cabinet despite no mention of such a possibility in signed unity deal, ruling party member says 'smug attitude' will eventually backfire

Attila Somfalvi |Published: 05.09.12 , 23:32

"What happened in the Knesset today is one big farce – such amateurism," a Likud minister said Wednesday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced to admit that a number of ministerial portfolios may be transferred to Kadima.

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The coalition agreement signed between Likud and Kadima on Monday night, in a controversial move meant to avoid general elections in September, made no mention of the possibility that additional Kadima members may be appointed as ministers in the near future.

Earlier, the Knesset plenum approved the government's request to appoint Kadima Chairman Shaul Mofaz as a minister-without-portfolio and deputy prime minister, with 71 Knesset members voting in favor of the measure and 23 opposing.

During a heated debate that preceded the vote, opposition officials claimed Netanyahu and Mofaz secretly agreed that a number of Kadima members, apparently three, would join the cabinet in a few months.

Addressing the accusations, Netanyahu told the plenum "Any option that will reach that point will be reported, as per the law, including the possibility that Kadima members are to be appointed as ministers in the future."

"We've lost a fair amount of the public's faith due to these embarrassing events," the Likud minister said. "Again they are complicating something that is so simple. I was ashamed at how we appeared.

"Now the public may really believe that the government's leaders have something to hide. The three musketeers from the elite unit have disgraced us all," he said, referring to Netanyahu, Mofaz and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who served in Sayeret Matkal, a special forces IDF unit.

The minister added: "The prime minister is certain that now he is the king of the world, but what he doesn't understand is that this smug attitude will eventually come back to us like a boomerang. Likud has always felt invincible. In the end this always leads to destruction."