Blue and White senior Yair Lapid publicized March 17 a long Facebook post that he titled “You are not living in a democracy.” The very next day, it emerged that this was not simply the exaggerated statement of a politician to taunt his political rivals, but a sad truth. On March 18, a black flag was raised over Israel’s democracy. In an unprecedented move, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein decided to close the Knesset session several minutes after it had opened in order to avert the appointment of committees that could enable the activity of the Knesset plenum and prevent it from being replaced. These committees that are supposed to oversee the government — such as the Finance Committee or Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee — would, in a civilized, developed country, certainly meet for marathon discussions regarding solutions to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus. But now we will have to wait until Edelstein or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decide that the political dangers hanging over their heads have passed.

Later on, during Channel 12 News, it was reported that Knesset legal adviser Eyal Yinon described the destructive acts of Israel’s legislative house in the clearest of words. “The Knesset has died a peaceful death; it no longer exists,” he said in a closed conversation. Earlier, in an interview on the same channel, Netanyahu said that while he was fighting the coronavirus, the opposition was occupied with “petty politics.” One would have thought that Netanyahu was the only one fighting the modern plague.

What is Netanyahu’s definition of petty politics? “We demanded they (Blue and White) commit that terrorism supporters won’t head the committees. We have yet to receive answers on it. Unfortunately, even in this time of emergency, Blue and White continue to cooperate with terrorism supporters,” Netanyahu said, referring to members of the Arab Joint List.’’ One might wonder how the same Netanyahu would react if any of the world’s parliaments would prevent a Jew from heading a parliamentary committee, even though he or she was chosen in democratic elections. And in any case, why do we need the agreement of Netanyahu — who lost the elections — to appoint a specific Knesset member to head a committee?

After hearing the harsh words of the prime minister, Joint List Chairman Ayman Odeh wondered in a tweet: “[Arab] heads of hospital wards [ — yes]. [Arab] heads of Knesset committees — no.” In a different tweet, he wrote, “There is no Jewish majority in any medical staff.” Indeed, Israeli-Arab physicians direct hospital wards; Israeli-Arab nurses, pharmacists, lab workers and sanitation staffs are all fighting the epidemic no less, and perhaps even more, than Netanyahu. Yet it is Netanyahu who presents himself on Israeli TV every night as “Mr. Public Health,” a model for the entire world.