Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu "desperately wanted" to ally with the Islamist Ra'am party after the 2021 election and is "lying through his teeth" by denying this, far-right MK Bezalel Smotrich said in a recording aired by Kan public broadcaster Sunday.
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Smotrich, who heads the Religious Zionist Party, said he was "the only one who stood in the way" of the idea of Ra'am joining the coalition, which is a "taboo."
"The moment he [Netanyahu] agrees to form a government with them, in the end, he's dependent on them. At first, he'd have given them less, and later, he'd have given them everything. Otherwise, they'd have brought him down, and we'd go to elections," he said.
Smotrich also stated that Netanyahu would eventually no longer be involved in politics, saying "physics and biology will take their course" and that the former premier may yet be found guilty in his criminal trial.
"There's no doubt that Netanyahu is trouble, alright? But now you have to choose between troubles," he said in the recording.
Responding to the leaked recording, Smotrich claimed it was a ruse to "divide the Right" and a response to the right-wing bloc's "return to power according to the polls."
Similarly, his electoral partner, Itamar Ben Gvir, said Netanyahu was not a liar and that no one would succeed in sowing discord within the camp.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
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