Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein urged the public on Monday to learn for past election campaigns, and refrain from voting for random fad parties in the March 17 elections. "I don't understand why people continue to vote for atmosphere parties, only to be disappointed time and time again," he said. "When a person forms a business partnership and his partner betrays his trust it's a terrible tragedy. When it happens for the fifth time, it's a farce. It's hard to see a large part of the public disappointed two months after [the elections]. They voted for the Center Party, then for Shinui, then for Kadima and Yesh Atid, and they are disappointed time and time again. For heaven's sake -- look at the parties' records and then vote according to your worldview. Where's the sense in voting and being disappointed-" The Knesset speaker further rejected the criticism leveled at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that suggests his sole focus is his political survival. Netanyahu "could have held onto his seat for another two years, but he came to the conclusion that he could not serve the public properly" given the coalition partners' antics, Edelstein said. Commenting on the Likud primaries, which are scheduled to take place on Wednesday, Edelstein expressed optimism. "The Likud only gets two kinds of headlines, the first saying the list will stay the same, and the second saying the Likud is veering more and more to the right. Those two things cannot exist simultaneously." He further noted that during the 19th Knesset's term, "Likud MKs did an excellent job and led legislation efforts over the other parties." Edelstein lambasted Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, saying, "After 19 years in politics, I'm still surprised by how people, who were government ministers just a moment ago, resign and criticize not only the government, but the very ministry they headed. The same goes for Lapid and the economy, and for [Labor leader Isaac] Herzog and welfare issues. Getting things done is difficult, but I guess talk is cheap." Meanwhile, Likud MK Gila Gamliel said Sunday that voters seeking a party with a solid social agenda should vote for the Likud, whose platform is "very socially oriented." Gamliel, who served on the both the Finance and Economics committees during the 19th Knesset's term, also criticized Yesh Atid's MKs, who she said "didn't know what they were voting on half the time. They were just Lapid's pawns." Commenting on recent dramatic events in other major parties, she said, "When you see what's going on in Yisrael Beytenu and in Shas, you understand where the votes need to go. To quote [the late Likud leader Menachem] Begin, 'Another ballot for the Likud, and another, and another.'"
