Opposition lawmakers walked out of the Knesset plenum on Wednesday evening, skipping speeches by parliament speaker Amir Ohana and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to protest the exclusion of High Court president Isaac Amit from a special legislative session honoring Indian premier Narendra Modi.

They returned later in the evening to attend Modi’s speech, with Opposition Leader Yair Lapid welcoming the Indian leader and insisting that the protest had “nothing to do with you.”

Lapid last week threatened to boycott the event unless Amit was invited, following several recent high-profile snubs of the country’s top judge by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition. He later appealed to Netanyahu to instruct Ohana to invite Amit to ensure that the opposition was not “excluded” from the session.

Following Amit’s election as court president in January 2025, Justice Minister Yariv Levin refused to recognize his authority and has subsequently refused to meet with him or address him as head of the court, nor publish his appointment as chief justice in the state gazette, as required by law.

Some members of the government have followed his lead, and Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi have both publicly called on the government not to abide by specific court orders and decisions on several occasions.

As a result of this boycott, Amit has been excluded from multiple Knesset events to which he would have traditionally been invited, including speeches by US President Donald Trump and several other world leaders.

Responding to Lapid’s ultimatum last week, Ohana accused the opposition leader of harming Israeli-Indian relations to score domestic political points and called his threat an “illegitimate” weapon in “an internal political struggle.”

As opposition MKs left the chamber on Wednesday evening, Yesh Atid released a statement blaming the walkout on Ohana’s “disgraceful decision.”

“We will only return for the Indian prime minister’s speech to respect the alliance between the countries and express our appreciation for Prime Minister Modi’s standing by Israel,” the statement added.

Speaking with The Times of Israel, Yesh Atid MK Moshe Tur-Paz accused Ohana of “disgracing the dignity of the State of Israel,” arguing that his “primary election considerations cannot be allowed to affect Israel’s foreign relations.”

“We will honor the Indian prime minister and attend his speech only. Knesset Speaker Ohana and Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu do not deserve respect in light of their divisive behavior,” he said.

Ohana did not acknowledge the protest during his speech, instead focusing on lauding Modi as a staunch ally of Israel and the architect, together with Netanyahu, of “a true strategic partnership” between Jerusalem and New Delhi.

He later presented Modi with the newly established Medal of the Knesset to honor him for his “significant contributions to the State of Israel and the Jewish people.”

After opposition lawmakers left the chamber, former coalition lawmakers took their places to ensure that it did not appear empty in television broadcasts of the session.

“Amir Ohana made a lot of effort to make sure he has enough people in case the opposition makes any kind of circus, to leave the plenum or something like that,” one former MK told The Times of Israel. “He made personal phone calls. I don’t think I was the only one he called.”

The Knesset sent an email blast to all former legislators, “and there were specific ones that the speaker wanted to invite whom he called,” a coalition source stated, adding that the move highlights “the level of significance and importance that the Knesset is ascribing to this visit.”

Reentering the Knesset after boycotting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech, Lapid shook Modi’s hand and welcomed him to the Knesset.

Lapid told Modi that the opposition walkout during this evening’s special session had “nothing to do with you,” drawing boos from coalition lawmakers, to which he replies: “Let’s try not make things worse.”

Addressing the Knesset. Do watch my speech. @KnessetENG https://t.co/a8V6Ah5HwY — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 25, 2026

Addressing the Knesset. Do watch my speech. @KnessetENG https://t.co/a8V6Ah5HwY

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 25, 2026

“The entire State of Israel is filled with admiration for your leadership, for your friendship, for the fact that you were here for us in our time of trouble, and for the alliance, the eternal alliance between our two states,” Lapid said. “So thank you very much for being here. And we are all, both sides of the aisle, looking forward to hearing your speech.”

Following Wednesday’s special session, Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party released a statement arguing that the incident proved that Israel’s political blocs must stop fighting and “establish a broad, Zionist government.”

“Today, we witnessed a shameful event for the State of Israel, and the ultimate responsibility lies with Knesset Speaker [Amir Ohana], who prefers the Likud primaries over Israel’s diplomatic relations with one of the world’s great powers,” said the party, adding that “Gantz approached Ohana as early as a week ago and asked him to prevent this.”

Blue and White said that it “succeeded in ensuring that the rest of the opposition would attend” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech itself, “and at the very least, we avoided that particular embarrassment.”

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