With the Kadima party crumbling from under him, MK Shaul Mofaz today did his best to attack the Likud party, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and Avi Dichter, the latest MK to resign from the party. Mofaz was a deputy prime minister a short time ago, but when his efforts to draft a new Tal Law failed, he was compelled to resign to save what little election appeal his party maintains.

In Dichter’s case, he will assume the cabinet post of minister of homefront affairs, replacing Matan Vilnai who was appointed the next ambassador to China. Ahmad Dabah was sworn in as a Kadima MK, replacing Dichter, becoming the 17th non-Jewish MK.

Addressing the special Knesset session, Mofaz addressed the appointment of Dichter, a member of the opposition party as a cabinet minister. Referring to the appointment, which was approved by Knesset, Mofaz called the prime minister’s move to bring Dichter into the cabinet “corrupt and cynical”.

Mofaz, a former IDF chief of staff and defense minister did not waste time going on the offensive, stating “a homefront minister shouldn’t be a rubber stamp for a hasty attack, an attack that hasn’t been coordinated with the US”. Regarding a possible Israeli attack against Iran, Mofaz warned parliamentarians “Netanyahu is playing a dangerous game and he is endangering our children”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)