Knesset Opening Descends Into Chaos as Speaker Snubs High Court Chief
Israel’s winter Knesset session was supposed to be a reset; instead, as Gabriel Colodro reports, it exploded into a televised brawl that laid bare a country still raw after two years of war. The spark: Speaker Amir Ohana opened by refusing to acknowledge Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit, then accused the judiciary of wielding “endless power.” Shouts, expulsions, and gavel bangs followed. President Isaac Herzog tried to calm the hall—“There is a difference between legitimate criticism and a lack of basic respect”—but the temperature only rose when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended his record since Oct. 7, vowed Hamas would be dismantled “both militarily and politically,” and framed today’s challenges as an extension of Israel’s founding struggle.
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Opposition Leader Yair Lapid fired back, asking who was in charge when Iran’s power grew and Hezbollah amassed missiles, and charging that Netanyahu obeyed the US president’s order to halt fighting. The back-and-forth captured the country’s unresolved argument over courts, security, and the cost of governance—15 ministries too many, Lapid said—while Herzog’s appeal for restraint hung in the air. By the end, the chamber looked less like a house of debate than a mirror of national fracture, with Ohana’s opening gambit still echoing and “May God help us,” Netanyahu’s closing line, sounding more like a plea than a flourish.
If you want the full blow-by-blow—and the quotes that set off the fireworks—read the entire piece by Gabriel Colodro.
