Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has again locked horns with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, this time over a proposed law to create investigative committees into the funding sources of left-wing human rights groups. Yisrael Beiteinu, which Lieberman chairs, is seeking coalition discipline for the proposed bill, which would look into cooperation between left-wing groups and foreign governments, as well as examine the breadth of their support. Coalition discipline forces MKs to vote with their fellow coalition members, even on laws that their party does not agree with, in order to preserve the coalition. Netanyahu left no doubt on Thursday that he intends to block the bill. "We don't need investigations or investigative committees in the Knesset," Netanyahu said Thursday at a ceremony honoring Jewish communities in the former Soviet Union. He later repeated the statement at a conference at the Israel Trade Fairs and Convention Center in Tel Aviv. There are those that dont agree, and therefore I will grant them the ability to vote freely. I will vote against it, he said. "The prime minister respects Lieberman, but he has also clarified to him how things work in this country," said a source close to Netanyahu on Thursday. Lieberman, however, refuses to back down. If the coalition does not conform to coalition discipline on the vote to establish the committees, we will view this as an attack on Yisrael Beiteinu," Lieberman said. "Just as coalition discipline was applied in the case of the boycott law, the parliamentary investigative committees must follow the same procedure. Should coalition discipline not be implemented, Lieberman added, Yisrael Beiteinu will bring the law to the plenum. Lieberman did not personally respond to Netanyahu's comments on Thursday, but a Yisrael Beiteinu representative told the media that "there will be a price" for the prime minister's opposition. Yisrael Beiteinu MK Faina Kirschenbaum, who initiated the law, called it a defense of Israeli security. "Israel must struggle, for the sake of its very existence, against organizations that support terror, directly or indirectly," Kirschenbaum said. "It's a shame that the leaders of Likud would sacrifice essential security interest and their obligations to voters and national values in order to satisfy the media and leftist groups." Yisrael Beiteinu MK Moshe Matalon also criticized the prime minister, warning that in the future, his party is likely to demand the freedom to vote as it wishes on issues it sees as crucial, including those that might threaten the coalition. Serious damage to Israel Meanwhile, a initiative from Kadima to annul the boycott law, which requires anyone who calls for boycotts on products made in the settlements to potentially pay damages for lost revenue, is already underway. MK Shlomo Molla, who proposed the annulment, said that based on the opinion of Knesset legal advisor Eyal Yinon, the bill would not withstand review by the High Court of Justice. At the heart of Molla's proposal, which so far has been supported by four other MKs, is Yinon's ruling that the boycott bill is "a violation of the core tenet of freedom of political expression in the state of Israel and elements in the proposed bill border on illegal." "Beyond the legal issues or the infringement of the right to personal expression," said Molla, "'[the boycott law is] a law that will cause severe damage to Israel in the international arena, and even threaten its image as a democracy. For this reason, we recommend annulment of the law, preventing the High Court of Justice from becoming involved in Knesset decisions." Molla's proposal was soon attacked by from the right wing. It is not clear why they want to defend the worlds slanderous hate-mongers against Israel, said National Union party MK Uri Ariel. This, of course, raises questions about Kadima. National Union party Chairman MK Arieh Eldad reserved his criticism for opposition leader Tzipi Livni. "Livni will also simultaneously try to cancel the last election results, and she will determine that she is prime minister," Eldad said. Schneller: Livni produces hatred Livni also continues to be censured by Kadima MK Otniel Schneller, whom she has said will face disciplinary measures following his refusal to cast a vote on the boycott law. "Livni herself makes distinctions between settlers and other citizens. I refuse to accept her manipulative language, accusing Bibi of fomenting hatred between groups for political gain," he said. "I can't say that [Livni] is not herself stirring up hatred for her own political gain ... She has crossed the boundaries on this one. "[Livni] has forgotten that the most important thing is that [the Jewish people] have a country and its interests come before all other interests," Schneller continued. "Political considerations cannot shift ones position from one extreme to the other, especially with respect to a law that most of the Kadima MKs strongly approved in the past.
