Gil Bringer, the senior official at the Population and Immigration Authority who is tasked with finalizing Israel's admission to the US Visa Waiver Program, had yet to sit at the table in the coffee shop when I asked him, "Can I freeze my application to get a visa because we will soon get an automatic waiver?"

In response to my question, which at least 10 people had asked me to ask him over the past several months, Bringer said what I wanted to hear. "My assessment is yes … I am very optimistic and this optimism was essential from day one; I am not bluffing. This is the real thing."

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Bringer was tapped to lead this effort some two years ago by then-Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, and if all goes well, the cumulative effort he and many others have is going to culminate in the long-sought admittance to the program, after many years of unsuccessful attempts.

Video: Israel's UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan speaks about the Visa Waiver Program

"This project began actually on a pessimistic note. When I tell people that this time it was going to work, they put their hands on my shoulder, stare at me with a face full of pity, and tell me, 'Good luck with that.' The main thing that I had to do was to give people the feeling that this time, it was actually going to happen.

"I had to fake a sense of optimism in the beginning so that people would come on board. When all is said and done, this is not a one-man project; if the government ministers, the Population and Immigration Authority, the police, the Israel Airports Authority, the cyber agencies, and the IDF did not believe there was reason for optimism, this would have not happened."

Bringer's comments come as the project is near completion, with the relevant laws already having been passed, the joint databases set up, and even the pilot program to let Palestinian Americans into Israel freely already underway.

Q: While it is clear why Israelis would benefit from the waiver – they would save money and the hassle of applying for the visa – what's in it for the US? Why is Israel going to become the 41st nation to be admitted? 

"They see things differently than we do. For the US, this is a security collaboration agreement. As for that the average Israeli who tells himself, 'I can't take it anymore,' he would now no longer have the headache of having to wait a long period until he gets an appointment and won't have to pay the 150 dollars per applicant. He would be able to buy a ticket to the US on a day's notice and pay 20 dollars for an automatic entry permit.

"But as far as the two countries are concerned, the benefits go much farther than that: fighting crime and terrorism, countering human trafficking, and increasing airline safety. This will all be possible thanks to the new systems set up for this project and because the US doesn't let new countries join the program without meeting the very high security and technological threshold."

Flights will be safer

To lay the groundwork for Israel's admittance, significant steps have been taken at Washington's request in terms of flight security and border control, but they will also serve Israel's security interests. "The flights will be much safer," Bringer says. "For the first time ever, Israel will be able to crosscheck incoming passengers with the databases found in Interpol, and not just in cases where there is a stolen passport; it would also apply to people that have a criminal history. We will be able to deny them boarding at their point of origin through the API system.

"Another system is the PNR, which belongs to customs, where a whole host of information will appear on every passenger from how they paid and where they are seated on the aircraft. There is also an agreement that we signed on sharing criminal data with the US: Israel will be able to make up to 2,000 queries to have certain fingerprints crosschecked with the US fingerprint database and see if they match."

Q: When is all this going to start? Can you give an official date when Israel will finally join?

"I believe that in the middle of September, Israel will become an official candidate country, and then two weeks later it will need to get an official US stamp of approval to become a new member. Secretary of State Antony Blinken needs to sign a document saying we are applicants and then-Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will have to sign a document that allows us to join. Then we will enter a new technical phase, which US officials say will take somewhere between four to six weeks, during which they test the compatibility of their systems to would-be Israeli passengers who get a waiver."

Concerns and solutions

Once all the checkups are over and the documents are signed, every Israeli citizen would be able able to fill out an Electronic System for Travel Authorization Form and then within 72 hours, they would get an entry permit that would be valid for two years. He won't have to plan the visit to the US a year in advance. These are very good news. We should recall that Israel has been trying to enter the program for more than 15 years, but this time it is actually within reach.

Q: This is where the Jewish part of me asks, could something go wrong because of the political tension between the White House and the Israeli government?

"I have not felt that. I have run the project from day one and know it on every level. Never have the Americans raised issues that were not purely professional. I can say that on a personal level, I had concerns that something political will come up and cast a shadow, but this never happened. It is happening in a completely divorced way from any other issue."

The final preparatory phase in Israel began in July: The pilot program that allows Palestinian Americans to enter freely (as tourists, for 90 days) was launched, and this was extended to Gazan Americans just over the past several days. It appears that this is the most concerning issue security-wise, but in the US they made it clear that this was a critical part. "In recent days there have been claims in the media that there are some issues regarding the Palestinian Americans and that the security forces have voiced objections," Bringer says. "But let me make things clear: This condition was set by the US as a dealbreaker from day one; we worked on this for a long time because it is one of the most complicated conditions, and some three weeks ago Israel began implementing it. This did not come as a surprise to anyone.

"Unlike what has been reported in Haaretz, which claimed that there was opposition in the IDF and the Shin Bet security agency, I am willing to say things clearly: There was no opposition, and definitely not to this specific step. As for the details, it took a while until we finalized a formula that everyone could live with. It was clear to the civilian decision-makers that what could not fly with security officials could not be implemented."

Q: But how do you make sure that those who enter Israel freely won't threaten our security/ 

"The reality is that even without the waiver program, some 20,000 Gazans enter Israel every day. After the program is in place, another 130 would become eligible. So wouldn't the Shin Bet, which knows how to handle the current reality of 20,000 people entering daily, know how to adapt to a situation, which would mathematically imply that only half a person on average per day gets added to the tally? The difference is not a dramatic one.

"Moreover, we are introducing new technological systems that would handle the new security challenge. Not all those systems were born just for this deal, but many of them had their development accelerated in order to meet the deal's criteria. In many ways, this upgrades Israel's technological and security prowess and moves it to the 21st century."

Committed to this cause

This week, a US delegation from the departments of Homeland Security and  and State visited Israel. This was the fifth such delegation to arrive in Israel over the past two years to gauge Israel's progress toward the program, but the fine details are being hammered out between Bringer and his US counterpart, who is in Israel. He says he speaks with her "no more than 10 times a day, including after I leave this interview."

Bringer may be kidding, but it appears that the constant guidance given by the US official to the Israeli point man for this project is what made the breakthrough possible. "We troubleshoot things all the time, so there has to be someone who is fully committed to this. This is what Mayorkas told Shaked when they met two years ago. She asked him, 'What sets Israel apart from other countries in the program.' He answered, 'They had a point person for the project.'

"There is a lot of goodwill shown by a lot of government ministries. For 15 years, everybody wanted to get this done, but it was never run from the top down. This time around I was empowered by then-Population and Immigration Authority Director General Tomer Moskowitz to move forward on this with a free hand, as well as by the current one, Eyal Sisso, and by Shaked and her successors. I have been working on this for two years from dusk to dawn daily."

Q: Can they kick us out of the program after we get in? 

"Of course, they can. If do not continue to meet the criteria when it comes to criminal collaboration and other matters, of course, this could stop. Even now, during the pilot phase, if we stop admitting Palestinian Americans and act inappropriately, they can say, 'That's it.' Under the agreements, every country can stop the arrangements after giving a 30-day notice."

I couldn't end the interview without asking him what he thought about the ongoing political drama in Israel. But he elegantly ducks the question. "I have had a lot of criticism when state employees expressed their views on controversial matters, so I am not going to make my views clear on legislation. I believe that if you are a public sector employee, you are not supposed to get into these things."

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Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked on Monday approved the formation of two local committees – Trump Heights on the Golan Heights, and Gva'ot Eden in the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council in the Jerusalem District.

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Shaked adopted the recommendations put forth by Interior Ministry Director-General Yair Hirsch to approve the two new local committees and delineate their respective geographical boundaries.

Trump Heights will be built on some 68 acres of land. While its construction had already been approved some time ago, Shaked's decision essentially affirms the transfer of lands from the community of Kela Alon toward the development of Trump Heights in terms of housing units, public buildings and open areas, a local industrial zone, and roads.

The approval for the establishment of Gva'ot Eden had already been granted in 1998, but opposition from various bodies throughout the years has put the project on hold. The community is expected to include some 452 housing units that are currently under construction, and around 270 additional housing units throughout 2022-23.

"Approval of the local committees for Trump Heights and Gva'ot Eden is another stage toward establishing these communities and getting [their construction] underway while implementing the goals of reinforcing the population, building new housing and public institutions," Shaked said.

"The establishment of the local committees is a direct continuation of the government's policy of developing communities," said Hirsch, the Interior Ministry's director-general. As for Trump Heights, Hirsch said: "We will continue developing the Golan Heights by establishing new communities and doubling the population."

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Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar released details of proposed legislation that would ban anyone accused of crimes punishable by over three years in prison from forming a government. In the political system, the bill, which would directly impact former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is under indictment, has been dubbed the "Netanyahu law."

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If passed, the legislation, which would amend Basic Law: Government, would prevent an individual under indictment for a crime of moral turpitude from being tasked with the mandate to form a government. It would also prevent the person in question from inclusion in no-confidence votes or being sworn in as alternate prime minster. The law would go into effect with the signing-in of the new Knesset.

According to the legislation, the Knesset Central Elections Committee could allow such a lawmaker to receive the mandate should the crime be determined to not be one of moral turpitude.

The bill, which seeks to limit Netanyahu's next steps, has been the object of dispute within the coalition.

Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked and her fellow Yamina party member Nir Orbach oppose the legislation. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has yet to make his opinion on the matter public, although in the past, Sa'ar said he had coordinated on the issue with Bennett and that the Yamina leader had "greenlighted" the bill. Defense Minister and Blue and White party chief Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister and Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid support the law while the Likud has opposed it. While Ra'am party head Mansour Abbas has in the past said he was not committed to the legislation, he has already shown himself to be open to changing his mind. Finance Minister and Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor Lieberman has said he plans to vote in line with the coalition.

"It is our obligation to determine better regime arrangements that fortify Israel's values as a Jewish and democratic state for the future. We are obligated to prevent the recurrence of the situation Israel has until recently experienced," Sa'ar said.

Right-wing politicians criticized the bill.

Shaked said she "opposes this legislation. I do not think the attorney general should determine who heads the government. We agreed not to deal with this until state budget [is passed] and then we will make a decision."

In a statement, the Likud party said: "Gideon Sa'ar who in the polls is clawing at the electoral threshold from below is proposing an Iran-style, anti-democratic law that seeks to disqualify those who earn 35 Knesset seats in the polls and earn the support of millions of citizens as their representative for the premiership. How embarrassing."

Religious Zionism Party MK Simcha Rothman called the bill "an embarrassment for Gideon Sa'ar and an embarrassment for the state. Anyone who does not trust the 61 lawmakers to pick the best candidate and tries to let a clerk decide who can and cannot be prime minister form them shows themselves to have not faith in the people, elected officials, and the democratic process. This is not reminiscent of darker times. This is a dark time."

Likud MK Miki Zohar said, "Clearly Gideon Sa'ar's legislation can be corrected as soon as we return to state leadership. The problem is that if the bill passes, anyone who wants to serve as prime minister will need to worry the State Attorney's Office may not like them and file an indictment against them."

Joint Arab List head Ayman Odeh tweeted that his party could ensure the bill was passed "by next week."

In an interview with Army Radio, Jerusalem Affairs Minister Ze'ev Elkin called the bill" the learning of lessons from the reality in which we lived. For years, I thought it was necessary to wait for a conviction, but when I saw how a state can be taken hostage and thrown into a series of election campaigns, I was forced to change my mind. I think there it's unfeasible for Netanyahu to go back to being prime minister. It's not a personal law," he said.

Health Minister and Meretz MK Nitzan Horowitz told Tel Aviv-based radio station 103FM: I "support the law with all my heart. It's an anomaly for a man with an indictment and a criminal trial to continue to serve as prime minister. What is fitting for a minister and a mayor is fitting for a prime minister."

Referring to former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, he said, "There once was a prime minister who had an indictment filed against them and resigned. Such a law is very appropriate and should be a given."

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Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, currently visiting the United Arab Emirates, says in an exclusive interview to the Emirati news outlet The National that Israel under Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will not consider the establishment of a Palestinian state.

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Shaked told The National that the Bennett-Lapid coalition government had agreed not to tackle any issues that could cause rifts, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

According to Shaked, the government's stance was that "economic peace" would improve the lives of the Palestinians and in favor of mutual industrial zones. However, she stressed that Israel would "definitely" not support a Palestinian "state with an army."

The National pointed out that Shaked rejects the labeling of Israeli settlements "illegal," preferring to call them "territory under dispute." In the interview, she called the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement against Israel "hypocrites."

"BDS is a new form of antisemitism," Shaked said.

The interior minister told the paper that Israel had gained first-hand experience that showed that whenever it withdrew from a contested territory, a terrorist organization would spring up in the vacuum, citing southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip as examples.

"We will not repeat this experiment again," Shaked said.

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Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked criticized Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday and said Prime Minister Naftali Bennett would not agree to meet with him.

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"Abu Mazen [Abbas]" pays funds to terrorists that murder Jews," Shaked told attendees at an international conference on counter-terrorism at Reichman University in Herzliya. "My opinion on Abu Mazen is known and will not change. He prosecutes IDF soldiers and commanders at [the International Criminal Court] at The Hague, and is therefore not a partner. The prime minister will not meet with him and does not intend to meet with him [in the future]."

Shaked's remarks come two weeks after Defense Minister Benny Gantz met with Abbas, with Bennett's knowledge and permission, in Ramallah. This was the first such official meeting between a senior Israeli minister and the PA president since 2010. Following the meeting, Israel approved a 500-million-shekel ($156 million) loan to the PA to help stabilize its troubled economic situation.

Ahead of Gantz's meeting with Abbas, Shaked warned Foreign Minister and Prime Miniser-designate "Yair Lapid won't have a government if he tries to advance a move that includes the two-state solution."

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Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked on Wednesday visited Ben & Jerry's factory in Israel in a show of support for Ben & Jerry's Israel CEO Avi Zinger, who is fighting the parent company's recent decision to halt sales in Judea and Samaria.

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"It's not the Israeli Ben & Jerry's that needs to be boycotted – the opposite, we need to buy Ben & Jerry's Israel," said Shaked.

"The CEO of Ben & Jerry's Israel has been fighting tooth and nail for years against BDS organizations. He refuses to accept the terms of the [parent company] to boycott parts of Israel, and we will do what needs to be done to overturn their decision," she said.

During the factory visit, Shaked said the government was working with Jewish groups, evangelical communities and Israel supporters in the United States to boycott the ice cream brand there, until it reverses its decision.

"The board of directors of Ben & Jerry's chose to pander to terror and anti-Semitic groups instead of being loyal to the Israeli franchisee, which for many years has been an exemplary Israeli manufacturer. The Israeli government will do what it can from the legal, consumer and diplomatic level against the American manufacturer in order to change this decision," Shaked continued.

"I call on Israeli citizens – keep buying Ben & Jerry's Israel. This factory employs 160 workers and many dairy farms in the area. We have a year and a half to change this antisemitic decision," the interior minister concluded.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett slammed Ben & Jerry's decision, saying, "There are many ice cream brands, but only one Jewish state. Ben & Jerry's decided to brand itself as the anti-Israel ice cream. This decision is morally wrong and I believe that it will become clear that it is also commercially wrong.

"The boycott against Israel – a democracy surrounded by islands of terrorism – reflects a total loss of way. The boycott does not work and will not work, and we will fight it with full force," he tweeted on Monday night.

A statement by Ben & Jerry's Israeli franchise holder said: "Ben & Jerry's decided not to renew the agreement with us in 18 months' time because of our refusal to stop selling the product across Israel.

"We call on the government and on consumers not to allow a boycott of Israel. This is an unprecedented action on the part of Unilever, the owner of Ben & Jerry's Inc. Ice cream is not part of politics. We call on Israelis to continue buying the local product, which provides a livelihood to hundreds of workers in the south."

Avi Kendler, the company's VP, said that the Israeli franchisee "has no intention of breaking the law by boycotting parts of the country. State officials have been apprised of the situation and I hope they can change Ben & Jerry's decision."

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The vote took place after Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked of the Yamina party violated an earlier agreement with Religious Zionist Party MK Orit Strock – who along with Likud MK Avi Dichter introduced the legislation, refusing to postpone the vote by two weeks.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett did not even bother showing up for the vote.

The legislation failed to pass the preliminary reading although Shaked called the legislation appropriate and said she supported revoking terrorists' citizenship in principle. Shaked even signed on to the bill prior to her appointment as a government minister.

Israel Hayom has learned coalition members suggested Dichter and Strock reach an agreement on the proposed law and bring it to a vote on an agreed-upon date. According to coalition sources, they voted against the bill because Dichter and Strock violated the agreement when they brought it for a preliminary vote.

According to the principles of the law, any Israeli citizen or permanent resident sentenced to prison for terrorist activity who has been shown to receive stipends for their actions from or on behalf of the PA will lose their citizenship or permanent residency status, to be canceled by the interior minister. Such an individual will be directly released to the Palestinian territories upon completing their prison sentence.

The bill's preamble states that: "Many people who hold Israeli citizenship or residency at this time receive monthly payments from the Palestinian Authority as income and compensation for carrying out acts of terror. These salaries gradually increase the longer they serve in prison.

"It is inconceivable that Israeli citizens and residents who not only betrayed the country and Israeli society but also agreed to accept and continue to enjoy payment from the PA as a salary for perpetrating an act of terror would continue to hold Israeli citizenship or residency.

The preamble notes that "revoking someone's citizenship or residency is not a trivial matter. Therefore the present proposal gives decisive weight to the considerations of the interior minister on the individual's actions."

Dichter: Those who pay terrorists' salaries will also grant them citizenship

"There must be a law that says you cannot have one foot financially in Ramallah and one foot as a citizen in Jerusalem. That won't happen," Dichter said. "Those who pay a terrorist's salary will also grant them citizenship. If the ministerial committee that discussed the matter of the legislation Sunday had decided to discuss my proposed legislation in another two weeks, I would have accepted it and been understanding. Since they postponed the discussion by four months, we decided to bring the bill to the Knesset plenum today."

He said, "This was a vote to determine the stripping of citizenship from Israeli terrorists who receive salaries from the Palestinian Authority with no tricks involved: a law, plain and simple. Today the government proved it is captive to the Arab parties and that is how we will need to treat it [i.e. as a hostage]. We will not rest. This law will pass."

Shaked said: "These are indeed good proposals that make a lot of sense and that I have also signed off on. That is why we spoke with those introducing [the legislation] and offered them to sit with the Justice and Interior Ministries and try to reach agreements, and if they were to be reached, we would support the proposal.

"The introducers [of the bill] agreed to a two-week postponement, and when it was not made clear that agreements would be reached within two weeks, they decided to bring the proposal to a vote, which as was stated, was rejected," she explained.

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The past three months have been the stormiest of Ayelet Shaked's political life. She broke promises, bucked norms, was protested against, shifted allegiances and sparked antagonism that only time and action might allay.

At the end of this rollercoaster, Shaked has found herself in one of the key roles in the government as minister of the interior, the closest minister to the prime minister, a member of the diplomatic-security cabinet, and a member of the coronavirus cabinet. Shaked, who Netanyahu took pains to distance from the prime minister's office, is getting closer with almost daily strides.

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And what will she do if, after the rotation is implemented, Yair Lapid, as prime minister, breaks left? "I will stand on my principles and beliefs. Without Yamina, there is no government," she tells Israel Hayom in an interview from her office at the Interior Ministry in Jerusalem.

When Shaked makes such a promise, many of her past and present supporters certainly raise an eyebrow. To be sure, alongside her personal satisfaction there's also a price, and Shaked knows she's paying it. "There are people who were close to me who are very angry with me. Their criticism is difficult," she admits. "It saddens me, but I respect the criticism. I'm a public official, and as long as I do good things, I have to deal with it."

The doors in her office have new names on them. On Wednesday morning, a picture of the previous president, Reuven Rivlin, was still hanging on the wall behind her. Meanwhile, although Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's picture still hasn't gone up, Netanyahu's has already been taken down.

Netanyahu's shadow hangs over the interview with Shaked, and essentially every step and statement put forth by the new government. Like a son trying to step out of his father's shadow, the decisions, declarations, even Bennett's insistence on beginning cabinet meetings on time –  everything has been done in contrast to the previous prime minister. As if to show Netanyahu – and the world – that they, his young substitutes, can do things just as well as him.

Will this continue to be the case? Shaked agrees the government will be judged on its actions rather than words.  Rightfully so, it has identified the international community's inclination toward supporting the new coalition.

"Netanyahu has a lot of wisdom, knowledge, experience and status, and that can't be taken from him. But when it comes to working with the current American administration, it will be easier for our government. We've already done things that are no less nationalistic than Netanyahu's governments: The flag march took place, including to Damascus Gate, which didn't happen under his watch. Everyone was in agreement that we should allow people to march with Israeli flags in Jerusalem. The response from Bennett and [Defense Minister Benny] Gantz to the balloon terror [from Gaza] was powerful. The Evyatar settlement was evacuated twice under Netanyahu. As far as we're concerned, if land surveys show the land belongs to the state, a Jewish community will be established."

Q: Yair Lapid scoffed and said a community won't be established at Evyatar.

"So he said that. The prime minister and defense minister will uphold the agreement."

Q: And what about a Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem, as desired by the Biden administration?

"At the moment there is no consulate."

Q: If an American demand should arise to transfer parts of Area C to Area B or A, which has happened in the past, what will you do?

"Write this down – there will be no transfer of land from Area C to Area B or A. There will be no construction freeze in Judea and Samaria, and certainly not in Jerusalem. There will be the same construction as under the Netanyahu governments."

'Were there votes against annexation?'

We meet after a tough week for the fledgling coalition. On Tuesday morning, Shaked tried and failed to pass the law that prevents Arab families from different sides of the Green Line from uniting. Less than 24 hours later, during the night, the coalition was forced to pull another law proposal from the docket. Without a clear majority, the coalition is struggling to pass laws through the Knesset.

Q: Three weeks since the government's inauguration and you still can't pass laws you feel are vital to national security. Aside from the law to prevent family unification, on Tuesday night, Defense Minister Gantz said: "Tonight, I had to pull an important law aimed at preventing women who falsely claim to be religious from evading service in the IDF." What does this say about the government?

"One law is very important to the security of Israel. It's possible to live with the second one. You need to understand why the Citizenship law fell. Initially, I misjudged and didn't believe the Likud and its partners would oppose the law in the moment of truth. Nationalist parties in the opposition have never opposed this law, which everyone realizes is vital to Israel's security. Netanyahu himself, as prime minister and as Opposition leader against [former Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert, always said that when it comes to Israel's security – you don't play the coalition-opposition game.

"When the vote drew near and I saw they were going to oppose it, I understood I needed to find a solution within the coalition – which is what I did. Notice what happened. Meretz voted in favor of the law. Two MKs from the Ra'am party, which is quite extraordinary, voted in favor of the law. These parties are paying a heavy price with their constituencies. And had [Yamina MK] Amichai Chikli not lied, we would have had a majority. If I had known that Chikli would oppose, contrary to what he told me two minutes before the vote, I'd have enlisted a third MK from Ra'am."

Q: You really thought the Likud would oppose it? They are the Opposition. That's their job.

"I have no problem with the vicious and crude accusations against us, with filibustering, or with parliamentary attrition. I can deal with all these things. But an opposition needs to act professionally. That's how I conducted myself when Netanyahu dismantled the right-wing bloc, contrary to his promises, and left us in the opposition. I criticized the government for its mistakes but also supported certain laws, certainly in times of war. This law should have been outside the bounds of political argument."

Q: Then Netanyahu and Chikli are to blame, and only the government is blameless?

"I did everything I could to pass the law and I'm not shirking responsibility. Ultimately, we failed. But bottom line, the coalition with Ra'am voted in favor of a Jewish state, while the opposition of Netanyahu, [Bezalel] Smotrich and the Haredim voted against a Jewish state, against the Shin Bet's position, and against the security and demographic interests of the Jewish state.

I need to ask: If I would present legislation for the annexation of Gush Etzion or Maaleh Adumim – would they also vote against it because of politics? Because due to these politics they invited 15,000 Palestinians to get Israeli citizenship. This vote was a mark of shame for Netanyahu, just like his vote in favor of disengagement [from Gaza]."

'Searching for administrative tools'

Q: As interior minister, what do you intend to do with the 13,500 Palestinian requests that will soon be placed on your desk?

"Immediately after this interview with you, I have my first meeting [to learn] about the administrative tools I have at my disposal as interior minister to handle the problem. At the same time, I intend to present the law for another vote and to enlist a majority. But this will be more complicated because it would no longer be an extension of an interim law, rather a legislative process starting from scratch, which must be passed through three hearings."

Q: As long as we're starting at the beginning, why don't you pass the immigration bill, as proposed by the Opposition?

"This proposal was a troll job. The Likud was in power for 12 years and never pushed it. I support the legislation, but we need a version that is agreed upon by the entire coalition (the intention being Meretz and Labor – A.K.). There's also a reason the Right didn't legislate the immigration bill because we didn't want to challenge the Law of Return in the High Court of Justice."

Q: Netanyahu claimed he asked you as Justice Minister to advance the immigration bill.

"This also isn't true. This law was supposed to have been promoted by interior ministers that served under Netanyahu, Silvan Shalom, Gideon Sa'ar and Aryeh Deri. Not the Justice Ministry."

Q: Here, you just said the government's composition makes it impossible to pass the immigration bill. And this is a serious problem that many of your voters have. You're in the government with a Muslim Brotherhood party and the extreme Left. This isn't Netanyahu's or Chikli's problem.

"It's not a secret that this isn't the government we thought we wanted to join."

Q: So why did you establish it?

"We did everything we could to form a right-wing government. We never disqualified Netanyahu and we made many efforts to help him assemble a government, even when he only had 59 MKs. By the way, two days before his mandate [to form a coalition] expired, I told his people to present the government to the Knesset – even though he didn't have 61 MKs, just 59. He didn't want to. When his mandate expired, we suggested that the Likud recommend Bennett to the president to establish a right-wing government, but Netanyahu didn't want to transfer the mandate to Bennett."

Q: Why didn't you call on Sa'ar to join when Netanyahu publicly expressed willingness for a rotation with Bennett and Sa'ar?  

"I called on him to do that, and Bennett said he was willing to concede his spot as prime minister and to only be defense minister. But Sa'ar didn't want to. He didn't believe Netanyahu. Therefore, only when I saw there was no other option to form any other government, and that the alternative was either a fifth election or the current government, I was persuaded. And I stand by my choice. This is not an easy or simple government and everyone is making concessions. But it was right to form it and not go to elections."

Q: So, you say Sa'ar didn't want that, and Sa'ar's people say Yamina didn't want it. It was convenient for you to pin the blame on one another.

"That's outrageous. Bennett said at that point in time that he is conceding his spot in a rotation. Sa'ar didn't show up. In the end, Netanyahu failed to assemble a government because no one trusted his word."

'Things are happening with Jordan'

Shaked adamantly rejects the assumption widely propagated by Smotrich, whereby he had come under the impression even prior to the election that Bennett intended to leverage the situation to become prime minister. "You can't escape the reality – if Netanyahu had secured 61 MKs, we would have assembled a government with Netanyahu," she says. "If Smotrich would have agreed to sit with Ra'am, there would have been a government. Yamina said in advance that this it doesn't belong to any bloc, that we would do all in our power to prevent a fifth election, and that Netanyahu needs to be replaced."

Q: But you also said you wouldn't sit with Lapid, and that you wouldn't sit with Ra'am, and that you would only establish a right-wing government, and so on and so forth.

"We made promises that … turned out to be contradictory. The Haredim and Smotrich are the ones who decided not to disengage from Netanyahu."

Q: If the Haredim or Smotrich came along now and expressed a willingness to join a Bennett-Lapid government, would you accept them?

"We would make a considerable effort and succeed in welcoming any party that wants to do so. Moreover, let them challenge us."

Q: The coalition agreement doesn't allow you to bring on more parties.

"That's incorrect. I'll only say that any such initiative requires agreement."

Q: What would happen, from your perspective, if the Likud were to replace its chairman?

"I'm not addressing a hypothetical question. There is a government in Israel and regardless, in the meantime doesn't appear Netanyahu is going anywhere."

Q: Let's go back to the Citizenship law. Is it important for security or demographic reasons?

"Both. And more than that, the fact that Arab members of Knesset voted in favor of this law as it is written, significantly strengthens the state's arguments in the High Court of Justice. The biggest fight in the High Court was over this law, and both times it barely passed."

Q:  And now, when Lapid says the motive is demographic, he is weakening the law in the High Court – because the state argued the motive was security-related. 

"Lapid says that, and so do we. The motive is demographic and security. I read the Shin Bet's opinion. Factually, most of the terrorist attacks committed by Arab Israelis were by those who became citizens under family unification, or their children. Hence a security motive exists. But even as justice minister, I said you need to also make the demographic and nationalist argument."

Q: It seems it's very convenient for your partners in the coalition that the heat over losing the Citizenship law vote is being directed at you and Bennett. Sa'ar, Lapid, Gantz, Lieberman – they were all quiet.

"I don't look at others, I fight for what I believe."

Q: You don't think there's an attempt here to wear you down in terms of public opinion? 

"As I said, I don't look sideways. The [coalition] partners are working in coordination with us. Sometimes there are disagreements and some of them rise to the surface. But that's natural. All in all this government is functioning well. Prime Minister Bennett is managing things in a responsible manner, opposite the Americans as well. In terms of managing the coronavirus pandemic, too, he's doing the work on the ground without boasting and fanfare. Good things are happening in many areas, including with Jordan and the Iranians."

Q: You're the interior minister. What do you plan on doing in terms of illegal migrants?

"We'll formulate policy soon. I can't advance legislation on every issue that I want, because of political differences within the government. But there are a lot of things that administratively can be done to encourage voluntarily leaving the country, including agreements with third-party countries."

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Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked signed off Tuesday on the denaturalization of Ashraf Hassan, a member of Hamas.

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Shaked based her decision on information she received from military officials, who told her Hassan had  orchestrated an attack on an Israeli soldier and taken advantage of his Israeli citizenship to move around the country freely in pursuit of his plans.

In 2004, Hassan was convicted for plotting to kidnap and kill an Israeli soldier and was sentenced to nine years in prison. He maintained his ties with Hamas after his release. He left Israel in 2016 and has not returned since.

The Interior Ministry said it was proceeding with Hassan's denaturalization with urgency as "a matter of national security" and in an effort to deter others who might be planning to commit terrorist actions against Israel.

Shaked also approved the revocation of the permanent residency of Salah Hamouri, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Hamouri was arrested in 2005 and sentenced to seven years in prison for plotting to murder a prominent Israeli rabbi. He was released in 2011 as part of the Gilad Schalit prisoner swap. After his release, he continued his terrorist activities.

"Salah Hamouri's actions are a serious violation of the basic core commitment of an Israeli citizen, and due to this breach of trust, the revoking of his citizenship is legally justified," Shaked explained.

In 2008, the Knesset enacted a law according to which the government can revoke the citizenship of any Israeli citizen due to breach of trust or disloyalty to the state.

The revocation of Hassan and Hamouri's citizenships must be approved by Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit and Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar.

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Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, one of the most prominent figures of the religious Zionist movement, threatened Sunday to sever ties with Yamina politicians Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked if the two go ahead with forming a coalition with the Left.

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In a Facebook post, he explained that the left-wing political parties threaten to undermine Judaism and settlements, and siding with them would constitute a betrayal.

He reminded that the movement forgave Bennett and Shaked once before, when the two took advantage of the Habayit Hayehudi political party and split from it right before an election, but warned that the two would not be forgiven if they were to betray the movement again.

"Remember that when this government fails, you will have nowhere to go back. We promise. Whoever fooled us and betrayed us has lost our trust forever, " he wrote.

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