Former justice minister and leader of Israel's right-wing political bloc Ayelet Shaked officially kicked off her faction's electoral bid for Israel's September election at a press conference in Ramat Gan on Monday.
Formally known as the United Right, Shaked announced that the right-wing faction that the includes Habayit Hayehudi, New Right and National Union parties, will run a campaign titled "Israel wants Yemina" – the latter, loosely translated, means "rightward" – saying that would be the faction's title in parliament as well.
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Addressing supporters, Shaked said, "I have news for you that you won't hear in the media: Israel wants to move rightward. [It wants] a more ideological, effective Right, a Right that talks and acts."
"I am aiming for the highest political echelon in Israel and intend to go as far as I can to lead the country," Shaked said.
"We have been given a second chance; there won't be a third. Without a strong ideological Right, a Likud government will be established with the Left.
Shaked took Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the task, saying, "The public is moving to the Right, but time after time finds itself being dragged to the Left against its will. Two months ago, everything was up for sale for [former Labor leader Avi] Gabbay and his partners. Gabbay's gone but the threat remains. The threat of ideological liquidation is still here."
Shaked also touched on the 2005 disengagement from the Gaza Strip and the evacuation of Gush Katif.
"Ever since that disaster, and in light of its consequences that continue to haunt us every single day, the public has drawn its own conclusions and realized that if we value life, we must vote with the Right. The public has indeed moved rightward but finds itself time after time being dragged against its will to the Left. It doesn't have to be this way.
"Believe me," she said, "I did not see anything different from the cabinet desk than what I saw from home. The only difference is that from the government desk, I saw it much more clearly! We didn't just see it, we proved it! Right is not just a name, it is also an essence. We want to take Israel rightward … The Israeli people want the Right, and they aren't really getting that. We realized that it is only together that we can act to regulate settlements in Judea and Samaria once and for all; we realized that it is only together that we can open the Supreme Court up to other voices and bring democracy back to the people."
Education Minister and Habayit Hayehudi Chairman Rafi Peretz and Transportation Minister and National Union party chief Bezalel Smotrich also delivered remarks at the event.
Smotrich, who made headlines recently after members of the Likud party demanded his firing following his sharp criticism of Netanyahu, also spoke at the event.
He said, "Together, we carry the common banners to thwart [the formation of] a left-wing government. The current government has not done enough to restore the power of the judges … to its original dimensions. The public wants to move rightward, to vote Right and get Right, a balanced judicial system. It wants to move rightward because it is proud of its Jewish identity and heritage and in no way will be ashamed of it or hide in the public sphere."
For his part, Peretz said that one of his goals as education minister was to have students "reconnect to the Bible."
