Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Knesset appearance on Jan. 25 was aimed first and foremost at his fellow Likud members. In responding for the first time in detail to the ongoing criminal investigations against him, Netanyahu's remarks were actually intended to address the Likud Central Committee and registered party members, who determine the tone of the movement for its ministers and its representatives in the Knesset. For now, they are providing the prime minister the backing he needs. Netanyahu knows that as long as they are on his side, appearing in the media and using social networks to defend his right to “receive gifts” from friends, senior members of the party will inevitably align themselves with him.

Netanyahu appeared before the Knesset during a routine Q&A session, during which Knesset members can pose questions to him without his having the opportunity to prepare. Yet, Speaker Yuli Edelstein, a member of Likud and familiar with party members' position, made it clear that he would reject any questions about the criminal investigations. Edelstein, who is normally quite official, rightfully earned the wrath of the opposition, which claimed that he had tried to protect the prime minister. The thing is that Edelstein, like other senior Likud officials these days, is well aware of the mood in the party. Its members are siding with their leader despite the allegations of criminal misconduct. Edelstein will need those members’ votes if he is to be elected to a top slot on Likud’s Knesset list for the next election. This explains his “heroic” stand with Netanyahu, aired during a prime time news hour. In other words, it earned him plenty of points in a movement that is known for never speaking out against its leaders.

In the end, Netanyahu “conceded” to popular demand and answered a few questions about the investigations anyway. His responses were hardly spontaneous, reading something like a defense statement from a piece of paper. It was obvious that he had consulted with his legal team about it. He then fought back against a flood of difficult questions with his stock claim that he is the victim of a witch hunt.

“They’re investigating me? They accuse me? It’s just a bad joke,” he said, lashing out at members of the opposition, who heckled and interrupted him. Ostensibly, an appearance by any prime minister who is under attack and being called on to resign conveys a sense of political crisis. From Likud's perspective, however, a prime minister who is under attack from the opposition evokes a strong sense of identity and motivates them to come out in his defense. This is a well-known piece of Likud's DNA.