Newly sworn-in Yachad MK Maj.-Gen. (res.) Noam Tibon called for the establishment of a stable government led by Gadi Eisenkot that would serve for four years, saying that the first priorities following a change in government should be replacing the Knesset speaker and repealing legislation associated with the judicial overhaul, in an interview with 103FM on Tuesday.
Tibon spoke with Aryeh Eldad and Ron Kofman on their radio program against the backdrop of the swearing-in of the 26th Knesset and ongoing efforts to form a new government.
"To tell the truth, I was excited. All in all, this whole thing is new to me," Tibon said, describing the Knesset's swearing-in ceremony.
"As a new MK, I'm coming in with a great deal of goodwill. I hope we'll manage to do good things. The motivation is positive. What was special about this Knesset was that there were so many new people, and so many people connected to October 7 and the war. It's very interesting, and one day someone will write a very interesting paper about it," he added.
Asked how he would live with a watered-down military conscription law, Tibon explained: "We're still in the early stages, and I'm not familiar with the details of the negotiations. I trust Bennett and Lapid. The most important thing now is to work in an orderly manner, first of all to replace the Knesset speaker and then to repeal the laws of the judicial overhaul.
'Need to establish state commission of inquiry'
In addition, we need to pass laws such as one establishing a state commission of inquiry and make the best possible use of the time. I'm sure that when I have something to report about the negotiations, I'll have something to say."
"I agree on one thing: We need to save the State of Israel. We need to establish a different government here, headed by Gadi Eisenkot. That's what we're working toward," Tibon said.
Commenting on the atmosphere in the Knesset, he added: "The spirit that prevailed was a strong spirit of change, a positive spirit."
'Israel needs a constitution' like that of the United States
Turning to the repeal of some of the legislation passed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, Tibon said: "My central agenda, and this is also Yachad's agenda, is that Israel needs a constitution based on the Declaration of Independence. It needs to resolve the struggle over the separation of powers in Israel, over the Supreme Court, and over the fact that we can't agree on anything."
"When I was in the United States, I studied the American Constitution. It needs to be a short document with a small number of articles, but ones that establish order and are difficult to change," Tibon said.
He further explained: "For that, we need to build a stable government, not for a month or two but for four years, and come up with a work plan that doesn't spread itself across a million different things. It needs to focus on the things that are important to the country: national security and the constitutional front, where we need to enshrine a constitution."
"On this matter, I believe in our team of professionals. A lot of good people have entered the Knesset who have come to work, not to fight. The first condition is that we need to replace the Knesset speaker, and the second is to form a government and fix things," he continued.
In closing, Tibon stressed that a narrow government could still achieve significant results.
"We need to establish a government that will govern for four years. There are several possibilities. There were the governments of Rabin and Sharon that operated for a certain period as narrow governments. You can accomplish a lot of things."