The chair of the Knesset committee on handling the coronavirus crisis on Monday blasted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after implied during a cabinet meeting her work at the committee has led to a surge of coronavirus infections.
Netanyahu hinted MK Shasha-Biton the spike of COVID-19 cases in the country was due to her on multiple occasions overturning government decisions to shut down gyms, cafes and restaurants.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, MK Yifat Shasha-Biton
(Photo: Knesset PR, Alex Kolomoisky)
"Anyone who has disregarded the restrictions we had imposed and diluted or repealed them, should not come to us, complaining about the climbing infection rate," Netanyahu told the cabinet earlier.
Hours later, Shasha-Biton launched an unprecedented attack on the prime minister, telling him to "stop looking for someone to blame."
"All my actions were transparent, made following consultation," said Shasha-Biton in response to the accusations. "I did not call on the public to 'go out for a beer', I did not attend mass events without a mask, I did not invite guests to my house contrary to the guidelines and my office staff did not violate isolation rules,” she added, referring to senior Netanyahu aides suspected of breaking quarantine.
“I wish to remind the prime minister that he was the one who stalled on the implementation of Prof. Ronni Gamzu's traffic light outline, until it was no longer useful,” added Shasha-Biton. “I suggest the prime minister come to his senses and stop looking for someone to blame. "
Shash-Biton added that "it is time to increase the capacity of the hospitals, to create an effective system for cutting off the contagion, to mobilize the public and to set a personal example."
"The prime minister will be better off not dodging responsibility.”
Shortly afterwards, Coalition Chairman MK Miki Zohar of the Likud took to Twitter, telling the committee head, whom he blasted on many occasions, to "reconsider her path in the Likud".
"Yifat Shasha-Biton has not been a part of the Likud faction for a long time and does not serve its goals ... She chooses to attack us and the prime minister, as if her election to the Knesset would have taken place without our remarkable achievement in the last elections.”
"Ungratefulness is not accepted in our ranks, "added Zohar.