After the far-right party Otzma Yehudit failed to make it past the minimum electoral threshold for the second election in a row, party leader Itamar Ben-Gvir sent a letter to party activists on Wednesday in which he blamed right-wing leaders and the right-wing media for the party's crash and burn.
Ben-Gvir began his missive by thanking activists: "We worked like David against Goliath in this election, facing enormous systems and huge budgets. The way it looks right now, [a number of voters equal to] two and a half seats voted for our path and our principles. That's because of us."
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"I won't lie – I'm disappointed, sad, and in pain. I thought we could win, but there were those who did everything so that wouldn't happen. First and foremost, Prime Minister Netanyahu, who in an inexplicable step chose to go after us and never stopped attacking, when he should have learned from [Blue and White's] Gantz and Lapid, who embraced [Labor leader] Amir Peretz, who was also hovering over the minimum electoral threshold. Anyone who wants to help the Right doesn't shoot at its own people," Ben-Gvir continued.
He then went on to attack former Education Minister Naftali Bennett and former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, as well as National Union leader Bezalel Smotrich, whom he called "an arrogant braggart."
"Last on the list – members of 'sectarian' media, like B'Sheva or Arutz 7, and of course [journalists] Amit and Haggai Segal, who think that they represent all religious Zionism and did what they accuse the left-wing media of doing."
"We only need to look at the newspaper B'Sheva from last Saturday, where the first column was against Otzma Yehudit, as were the second, third, fourth, and fifth columns," he said.
"Unfortunately, I fear that some of the players I mentioned here don't really want a true right-wing government. My insight is that Netanyahu didn't want us with him, because he doesn't want real change. Smotrich doesn't want anyone next to him who would point out the fact that he is willing to make far-reaching concessions to have a seat in the government, and Bennett calls himself closer to Lapid than to us and didn't want us in the Knesset. It won't help – we'll keep telling the truth and working," Ben-Gvir said in conclusion.
