Merav Ben Ari blasts Idit Silman, says elections will soon send her home

Likud? No, Yesh Atid MK Merav Ben Ari attacked government minister Idit Silman on Tuesday morning in an interview on 103FM, after Silman recently criticized her. Speaking with Gideon Okו and Amichai Attali, Ben Ari said she had not “lashed out” or “screamed,” but had only spoken about Silman, Mansour, and Ahmad Tibi. She said Silman, who had once coordinated the coalition and had asked Yair Lapid to be part of Yesh Atid, was avoiding the substance of the criticism and instead accusing her of shouting and attacking.

Ben Ari escalated the attack, saying a female minister in Israel could not even say once that she had done something for women, and accused Silman of responding with personal insults. “She should do some soul-searching,” Ben Ari said. “Thank God, elections will come soon and she will go home.”

She also rejected reports that Yesh Atid lawmakers might defect to the new party being formed by former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot. “I speak with all the Yesh Atid MKs all the time, and besides Elazar Stern I have not heard anything like that,” she said.

Asked about the coalition’s stability and the possibility of elections, Ben Ari said this was a Knesset that was not only surviving its four-year term but was “clinging to the chair in a crazy way.” She also addressed the secret ballot for the Knesset’s representative on the committee to choose judges and for the state comptroller, saying the opposition was not responsible for the failed vote. According to her, “the one who torpedoed the state comptroller vote was MK Eli Dallal. MK Yaron Levy did not place the white slip.”