PM: opponents 'bullying law-enforcers to bring us down'
Addressing thousands of supporters at a Likud celebration ahead of Passover, Netanyahu says his detractors have attempted to bypass democratic means to bring him down by waging a relentless campaign against him; 'The public feels the injustice.'
Speaking at a Likud rally in celebration of the upcoming Passover festival, he told thousands of party members, supporters and MKs that his opponents had failed to depose him democratically, and were therefore employing other tactics.
The prevailing feeling among the public, Netanyahu said, was one of “injustice, a rigged game and a real witch hunt. They are exerting constant bullying pressure on law-enforcement officials in order to bring us down,” he continued. “There is a simple, general idea: No Bibi, we don’t touch it.”
The prime minister told his listeners that when he arrived at the event, held in in the Tel Aviv Convention Center, he was asked how he has the strength to deal with “all this nonsense and this witch hunt.”
“Here is the answer. You are my strength. You are our strength. I am thrilled every time with the support for me, for Sara, for our family and for our ways,” he declared as the crowds roared. “Our way is the way of Likud, the right way for Israel which is proven all the time at the polls.”
Netanyahu also said that he predicts that his Likud faction would continue to govern the country for years to come.
“Do you remember that the last time we met I told you what 30 mandates are? Forty would be better and better. Remember, there will be more. Today, everyone sees that. Likud is the largest and strongest movement in Israel. Together, we will lead Israel for many more years,” he said emphatically.
He added that despite the reports in the media, continued public manifestations of support for him were abundant.
“Sometimes I break protocol and force my security people to let me stop at some place and buy falafel, or eat a steak. You go in, when no one is expecting it, and people come over and say, 'prime minister, we are with you, we are with your way, continue to strengthen the state, continue to protect us,'" he claimed.
"And you know they say another thing that is extremely important. They say: ‘Prime minister, it is good in the State of Israel. It is good.’ They see our massive achievements in security, the economy and in foreign relations,” he added, as the audience chanted "Bibi, Bibi."
“How much can you hide? Even if the media tries, in the end they see. They see. The restaurants are full, shopping malls are packed, millions fly abroad and foreigners come to Israel. They see how good it is for us in the State of Israel," he said, boasting that time after time Israelis rank among the happiest people in the world in international surveys.
The reason for the support, he asserted, was the “feeling of justice that is continuing and deepening. Many, and not just in the Likud, hear what they are doing to us in the media and they feel that there is a rigged game, a witch hunt. There is a feeling of injustice, a feeling that something isn’t right.”
