It would be hard to say that the timing is perfect for Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to give an interview. The country is in the midst of a fifth, tough wave of COVID, even confirmed carriers don't know what strain they have; the new quarantine guidelines for schools is causing controversy and confusion between the staffs of the education and health ministries; and a plan to compensate businesses is also being met with confusion and bitterness. But the Prime Minister's Office has decided that perhaps because of all this, it's time to set the record straight.

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"I'm being interviewed at the peak of the pandemic, not when it's behind us, to tell the public that everything is under control. When we see the end, we need to protect the elderly and the children," Bennett tells Israel Hayom.

"Israel's management of the Delta and Omicron wave is almost the best in the world, based on a sane Israeli model that on one hand doesn't deny COVID – we already know it isn't the flu and causes a lot of damage. On the other hand, I'm not rushing to pull the trigger on the lockdowns that were a key tool here last year. The model is to keep the economy running amid Omicron. We are almost first in the world in the extent of testing, and it works. We were the first in the world to bring in the Pfizer drug," he says.

Q: We're also first in the world in new cases.

"And the first with the second booster, which is proving itself and saving lives. We have the strongest plan in the world to protect the elderly. That is the Israeli way – initiative, action, not sending everyone home, but keeping the economy operating."

Q: But there is a sense of denial. You once spoke of 'pincers' and a smart operation, and it looks like the government has thrown up its hands. There was a lot of time to prepare for this wave, like vaccinating kids in school.

"We prepared ahead of time and did a lot. My decision to close down air travel bought us three to four weeks in which we vaccinated 600,000 elderly [with a second booster], which prevented extensive loss of life. In that period, we acquired drugs and we built the antigen [testing] system, which didn't exist when I took office. For a year and a half, you couldn't buy antigen testing kits in stores. I opened the market and we brought in suppliers. Now the price for a test in stores is eight shekels ($2.50)."

Q: Still, these are costs the people have to shoulder. There are families that have needed dozens of tests in the past few weeks.

"We have just handed out three testing kits to each public school student, and we'll distribute 20 more under the new plan."

Q: But I asked you about early vaccination for kids. Most new cases aren't from the elderly, but from schools.

"I, as the government, can buy the vaccines and make them accessible. Ultimately, it's the responsibility of each person to get vaccinated. We aren't forcing the vaccines on people and each parent is making their own decision on the matter. At the end of the day, the parents are responsible for their children. To set a personal example, I took my son David to get vaccinated in the first couple of days. There is a need for the public to cooperate. The good news is that the public is demonstrating maturity and understanding that it is in partnership with the government."

'We won't fight the previous war'

Q: Are you at peace with the education minister's decision not to provide vaccinations at schools, even if the Education Ministry could have saved mass transmission?

"If I look to either side, at the countries that shut down schools or the countries where there is no problem, I think that [the situation] is being managed – and I take personal responsibility – according to a rational, very proactive, Israeli model. The guiding principle is good, and allows the country to keep running. We haven't declared a day of lockdown. We began the school year as scheduled, and I'm talking about a once-in-a-century pandemic. Compared to the rest of the world, we're OK. We are discussed as a model. I was the first world leader who informed the public about the Omicron variant and shut down air travel. The previous concept was to tell the public 'don't leave your homes, we'll give you money.' Now the concept is a lot of activity. In the past, I've spoken about a hammer vs. pincers. The hammer is a lockdown, and I don't think we need to go there. The pincer is testing.

"We've made a huge effort, but ultimately, when it comes to schools where a mobile vaccination station is set up and only 13 out of 400 [students] bring a permission slip for the vaccine, it's not necessarily a success. Nothing can replace parental responsibility. I'm calling on anyone who still hasn't gotten vaccinated to get vaccinated. We're also the first to know that the second booster works."

Q: It took a long time to decide on the new quarantine guidelines. It's strange, considering that there's a de facto lockdown. For a long time, parents aren't going to work and children have been at home.

"I'm not denying that there's a tsunami here. I said at the beginning that we'd be seeing 20,000 to 50,000 new cases a day. We were well prepared as a government. We are compensating parents for the loss [of work days]. We raised the payment for a lost work day from 430 shekels [$134] to 570 shekels [$178]. People who look at the situation with a rational, open mind say, 'Wow, the government is doing the right thing – neither hysteria nor irresponsibility.' For the kids, this is the right time to transition to the mass testing approach. Every kid in Israel will start getting tested twice a week. It's an exceptional tool to fight a pandemic."

Q: Is this how we beat a pandemic?

"A pandemic is defeated through a lot of initiative, a lot of flexibility. When you don't fight the previous war. You manage a pandemic looking ahead, not back."

Q: One of the disadvantages in being a public figure is that people always remind you of things you said in the past. More so, things you wrote. Do you regret your book [How to Defeat a Pandemic]?

"Not at all!" Bennett turns to the large bookshelf behind him glancing at the biographies and other books in a variety of languages and on a number of subjects, and asks his advisors, "Do we have a copy here?'

The Twitter nation is looking for reasons to joke about that book, which among other things branded Bennett as the man to handle COVID. Bennett is proud of what he wrote, saying, "Actually, everything I preached I'm practicing. I said, opt for testing rather than lockdowns. I said, 100,000 tests [a day], and people told me it was a dream. But we're actually at 400,000! I said, protect the elderly – and we're executing a plan to do so. When I took office everything was falling apart. I said we needed a tool for oversight, that we needed technology, and I set up dozens of sewage testing sites. I'm implementing those exact views," he says.

"Anyone who wants hysteria won't get it from us. I want a government without drama, one that gets up in the morning and gets down to work. In this government we do that, we've been doing that for seven months."

Seven months after it was formed, the discourse is still focused on Bennett's predecessor. In a series of media interviews, Bennett inserted a video about the new quarantine regulations that sniped at Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who is still a key motif in nearly every issue.

Q: Are you still right-wing?

"I'm right-wing, and my positions haven't changed. I still oppose a Palestinian state. A lot of people on the Right tell me quietly that this is a good government. We agree on 70% of the issues. We agree we need better education, and need to fight crime, and build more homes. I feel like this government is saving us.

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"At the same time, I'm saying to people on the Right: 'Look, the prime minister is a man of the Right.' I stood up to the president of the US who asked me about opening a consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem, and looked him straight in the eye and said, 'Mr. President, you're a true friend of Israel, but I can't answer because Israel has only one capital, Jerusalem, and it is the capital of only one country, Israel.' On the deepest subjects, things are very clear to me. The biggest is that this is a mixed government, but ultimately, that is the policy. In a historic meeting, we brought the entire coalition – Right and Left – to the Golan Heights and decided to double settlement there. It was an exciting move."

Q: You know, even people on the Left are in favor of keeping the Golan Heights.

"So why have we been stuck with only 25,000 Jews living there for decades?"

Q: Maybe because there aren't any jobs?

"Fine. We're working on it, because not too long from now, if we don't, the world will say that Syria has stabilized, let's give up the Golan Heights for the sake of peace."

Q: But when I try to count the achievements of the Right vs. the Left, I see that highway infrastructure development in Judea and Samaria has stopped; that a law has been passed to provide electricity to Bedouin; that Ayelet Shaked's citizenship law failed to pass; that tree-planted in the Negev has stopped; that settlement outposts are being demolished and there are hilltops in Judea and Samaria no one has touched for years.

"No, the opposite. For years, the government handed suitcases full of cash over to Hamas. When I took office, I stopped those transfers. The previous government canceled the Jerusalem Day flag march, and I reinstated it. I just don't make a fuss over every single thing. I told you about the consulate. We've also built in Judea and Samaria – my predecessor didn't build there under the Biden administration. Am I doing everything I want to do? No. When it comes to the tree plantings and the Bedouin, that same night people told me there had been threats and violence. There were a few who said not to plant the trees, and I said they should be planted the next day. There are laws, and they can bring in as many police as they need to – trees will be planted, and after that, I'm willing to talk with everyone.

"The Arab crime that exploded on us during Operation Guardian of the Walls is a matter that has been neglected for years. I set up a team of ministers under my leadership and we're making life miserable for criminal leaders in the Arab sector. Some have fled the country and we're using creative means to pursue them. I'm satisfied, but this is a unity government. It's true. This isn't a government of one side."

Q: You say there are no more suitcases of money for Hamas, but there was already money being deducted from Palestinian Authority [tax revenue], and Defense Minister Benny Gantz gave the PA a loan that will clearly never be paid back. Regional Cooperation Minister Esawi Frej traveled to countries that donate to the PA and asked them to continue.

"This is a complicated government, because the guys on the Right were the ones who insisted on bringing us to a fifth election. They attached themselves to a person rather than to positions. It was a choice between putting the country into an endless spin, a rift, or dropping the ball on a number of issues. This led to a lag in military issues that I'm now closing. I made a decision. I've always invited our friends from the Bibi bloc to join us, but they need to decide which side their bread is buttered on. They made a wrong choice, days before the fifth election. I acted responsibly and I'm proud of it."

'There is a strategy to execute'  

Q: When you look at the unity government and the status quo, it appears as if the Left is violating it and the Right respects it."

"The left-wing side says the same thing. So the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. For the first time, there are no talks with the Palestinians. Instead, we are handling the Golan Heights and Hamas. That didn't exist with Bibi. After seven months of an aggressive approach, I said that an explosives-laden balloon would be met with the same response as a rocket. We're hitting Hamas targets after ignoring them for years, starting with the first arson balloon. A new national camp has arisen that doesn't depend on one person, but is founded on a path. As prime minister, I'm leading that camp. It's a camp that isn't based on rejecting others, but on activity. I'm an activist. I'm saying to our religious Zionist friends, on the Right, there is a prime minister who is right-wing, who wears a kippa. I'm a person of faith and that's important, because I act according to my values."

Q: How?

"In dealing with international leaders, I stand up for our interests. When it comes to Jerusalem, when it comes to the Land of Israel, when it comes to Iran."

Q: What is happening with Iran?

"We inherited a horrible legacy, even before the government was founded. Iran has enriched [uranium] to 60% in facilities it didn't used to have, and gone further than it ever has. When I entered office, I saw the size of the hole we'd been left. We are investing billions in building up our military prowess. That bolsters my right-wing views in the sense that we only have ourselves to depend on. I appreciate our friendship with America, but we need to defend ourselves, and not only with words."

Q: What does that mean, practically speaking?

"I look at Iran as an ongoing battle. For decades, Iran has been an octopus whose tentacles are gripping Israel and Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, and Syria, and Israel has fallen into the trap and is bleeding, while Iran itself – the root of the evil – is safe and distant. We have a cold war by one side only – they hit us, and we don't hit them back. We're changing that equation. We're working every angle to weaken Iran … We'll keep taking action and we won't give up. It's no coincidence we stepped up the number of airstrikes in Syria, as well as the kind of strikes and quality of the targets. This is making things difficult for Iran."

Q: And when a new Iran nuclear deal is signed?

"The process toward a new deal in Vienna is very wrong. With or without a deal, we have a strategy to execute. Even if a new deal is signed, Israel won't be obligated to it. We aren't part of it, and Israel will retain full freedom of action in any situation. I'm implementing that daily and not only in words, but also in actions."

Q: Gantz has met with PA leader Mahmoud Abbas, Lapid with his predicted successor, and former IDF Chief Gadi Eizenkot is talking about entering politics and a vision for two states. Is it possible that new Oslo Accords are being formed right under your nose, to be implemented as soon as the rotation for prime minister takes place?

"As long as I'm prime minister, there is no Oslo process, and if there will be one, there won't be a government. I oppose a Palestinian state and am also not allowing talks on the line of a Palestinian state."

Q: The frequent meetings with Abbas and his successor aren't feelers for a new Oslo deal?

"I won't meet with anyone who persecutes IDF soldiers in the [International Criminal Court] in The Hague and sends money to murderers. My partners – Gantz and Lapid – hold different views. They represent the Left's positions, and that's legitimate as long as when it comes to action, we stay within the common ground we established."

Q: These meetings aren't actions?

"No. My predecessor also met with Abbas a number of times, and with Palestinian flags waving in the background. It's not the end of the world. I'm not judging my partners. I'm allowing it. They don't have the authority to move on diplomatic issues. They are talking about economics, and I'm in favor of strengthening trade with the Palestinians."

'Not looking for a quick win'

Q: A year ago one could hear the education minister talking about vaccines, the health minister talking about making decisions based on data, and the finance minister talking about the Haredim or the settlements and know what Naftali Bennett thought. Now the public has the sense that it is certain about the prime minister's ideology.

"My values and views haven't changed. I'm a Jewish Israeli, a right-wing patriot, and my parents raised me on these values. That hasn't changed. What has become significant is that as prime minister I see supreme importance in unity and connection. We need to calm down. We lost the first and second temples, we won't get another chance and we don't need to highlight differences and increase hatred."

Q: Do you think the people understand that?

"That's my mission. I'm not looking for a quick win. I come with a different compass – I don't owe anything to any lobbyist, only to God and the people of Israel, and I believe that ultimately, the public wants these considerations and this path. Ideologically, the distance between a Yamina member and a Likud member isn't large. There is no dispute about the Land of Israel. The dispute is about the path we take. Do we curse and scream at each other? An hour after a former Supreme Court chief justice dies, do we take the approach of [MK Bezalel] Smotrich and say nasty things? They took the name 'Religious Zionist,' but they don't have the rights to that path. I was raised in religious Zionism, and it includes people who want to connect both sides."

Q: Your family is paying a heavy price. Is it worth it?

"The price is heavy. Especially for the kids, who didn't choose this and don't like it at all. I always try to bring them in, explain what Dad is doing. Forming this government was the hardest thing I've done in my life, harder than any business or political move. I knew that a huge machine generating poison and hatred would be aimed at me and my children. Before the fifth election, I called my kids and Gilat, my wife, who are not involved, and told them I was going to do something. When I realized Bibi couldn't form another government and that we'd soon be having another election, I knew the country couldn't take it. Things were paralyzed and there wasn't even a budget for the IDF. I told my family – 'They'll say Dad is a traitor and call us names.'"

Q: Is your family counting down until Lapid takes over as prime minister?

"The kids are. But we're OK. Shabbat is the calm time, that's the stability and the normalcy, and in that sense, home is a real haven. My family is suffering, but I'm at peace with the move. I'm a man of faith and I have great confidence that I made the right move: we are an effective government, and that's the biggest privilege I could dream of – carrying the baton of leadership for the Jewish state. It's not something to take for granted.

"This time of the year 80 years ago, the Wannsee Conference took place, where the German systematically planed the genocide of the Jewish people. The lesson I take from that is that we need to fight for the country tooth and nail. So even if I have to pay a heavy price, it's a price I pay with understanding."

The post Bennett: As long as I'm prime minister, there won't be another Oslo process appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Yamina leader Naftali Bennett has declared that he will do everything he can to see a right-wing government formed, but fellow members of the right-wing bloc are claiming that Bennett would not be sorry if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fails to form a government, which would pave the way for Bennett to form one with Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and Gideon Sa'ar of New Hope.

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In a Whatsapp group used by heads of right-wing parties, Yamina treasurer Ariel Sela posted a clip from the Ulpan Shishi news show in which host Rina Matzliach claims fervently that the bloc comprising Lapid, Sa'ar, and Benny Gantz was effectively made up of right-wingers, and could not be called "left-wing."

Sela captioned the clip: "Great. Share," and the right-wing bloc is furious. Sources in the bloc told Israel Hayom: "Why is it important for an activist from Yamina, which like they claim wants to form a government with the Right, to send out a clip that says the other bloc isn't 'left-wing'? It looks like someone is preparing the ground to join them, and claim that it's not a left-wing bloc. There can be no other reason."

According to the sources, "If Naftali Bennett really wanted to form a right-wing government, he would announce that it's either a right-wing government or a fifth election, and then all the pressure would move to Sa'ar, Benny Gantz, or others. When Bennett leaves the door open, as he said in his meeting with Netanyahu, to join the other side if Netanyahu can't form a government, he gives them hope that another alternative exists. Bennett is not only not helping to form a government, he is trying to stop a right-wing government from being formed."

Yamina said in response to these claims that "On Sunday, talks between members of the bloc to find solutions continued, without any progress."

Meanwhile, the Religious Zionist list (made up of the National Union, Otzma Yehudit, and Noam parties) continued to insist they would oppose any cooperation with the Islamist Ra'am party. MK Itmar Ben-Gvir stated in a Twitter post that "A government supported by Mansour Abbas has no right to exist."

Ben-Gvir's fellow party member Avi Maoz, leader of Noam, said, "I will vote only for a government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, without a rotation and without a mutation."

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Maoz said there were two reasons for his position: "First, recognizing the good the prime minister has done working for the country, in stopping the COVID pandemic, and strengthening us diplomatically, economically, and in terms of security. Anyone who is ungrateful for the good his friend does ultimately is ungrateful for the good of a place. This is a major tenet of Judaism.

"Second, in the most direct expression of the will of the people expressed in the last election, only Netanyahu as head of the Likud won 25% of the votes! So no rotation, and no to another Likud MK forming the government," Maoz said.

On Sunday, Shas leader Arye Deri spoke to the Haredi radio station Radio Kol Chai and discussed attempts by the right-wing bloc to form a government.

"It's hard for me to see Bennett, Ayelet Shaked, and Zeev Elkin forming a government," Deri said. "Netanyahu will not pave the way for any left-wing government. They are planning a fully left-wing government. It's hard for me to believe they'll put all their right-wing ideology into it."

On Sunday, Israel Hayom reported that the right-wing bloc has made Deri responsible for on Sa'ar.

Deri said when interviewed that "Bennett demanding to be prime minister with seven mandates isn't democratic, it's a campaign. We have nine mandates, and we aren't asking for the prime minister's seat. It doesn't make sense. I'm in touch with Sa'ar, and I've spoken to him some, and he's a worthy man. I'll have more in-depth talks with him going forward."

"Bennett and Sa'ar's voters want a right-wing government. Most of the public decided they are in favor of a right-wing government," Deri said.

The post 'Bennett is trying to prevent the formation of a right-wing government' appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

With fewer than five hours to go before polls close, Yamina was outraged on Tuesday over what they called a "gevald" (scare) campaign by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bolster the Religious Zionist Party at Yamina's expense.

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Yamina was responding to a mass text messaging campaign by the Likud, calling to vote for the Religious Zionist Party, which has been hovering near the minimum electoral threshold of 3.25% in polls. The message encouraged undecided voters to support the Religious Zionist Party, rather than the Likud.

Yamina leader Naftali Bennett said in a Twitter response: "Don't allow Bibi to fool you again. In an attempt to weaken us, he is once again spreading the complete lie that the Smotrich-Ben-Gvir-Noam party is in danger. Completely fake. Bibi is doing it just because he wants a submissive Right in his pocket."

In the last polls before the election, published Friday, Bezalel Smotrich's list was projected to make it over the minimum threshold and win four to five seats. Still, Netanyahu is concerned that the party will not make it over the minimum threshold, which would seriously hurt his chances of securing the 61 seats he needs to build a stable coalition.

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Gideon Sa'ar is arriving at the finish line of the election far from where he planned to be. What befell the many parties that have appeared on the scene with a bang didn't skip New Hope. He has dropped from second place in the polls at the start of the campaign, with nearly 20 projected seats, to fourth, with about half as many. 

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The original plan was for him to become prime minister, with New Hope rather than the Likud at the center of a right-wing, religious coalition. The other plan was to prevent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from forming the next government and forcing an alternative government by bringing in the Haredi parties. Now that Naftali Bennett has overtaken him and Netanyahu is nearing the 61 seats he needs to form a government, Sa'ar's hand is looking less good. Sa'ar is definitely realizing that he could wind up in the opposition, but promises to be a fighting member of it. 

Q: We are nearing the end of the election campaign. At the beginning, you defined yourself as a candidate for prime minister. But since then, polls have shown you losing steam, and you're far from where you wanted to be. 

"First of all, I'm not summing up the election yet. The biggest changes happen in the last week. But if I look back, I'll say that when I resigned from the Likud and founded a new movement, I had no idea what would happen and how many would come with me. I was alone, but I did it out of deep conviction that it was what I needed to do for the country. Today I know that hundreds of thousands are following me, that we have a living movement with 10,000 activists and 150 branches and traction in the field. We've done something great. Other parties that were founded pulled out in the middle or have no chance, so I'm very proud of how far we've come, I believe in our path and I'm fighting to the very end."  

Q: But your goal was to replace Netanyahu, and according to the polls at least, you aren't achieving it. 

"First of all, it's too early to determine that. I don't see how he has a majority. He doesn't have 61. So it's impossible to say whether or not we've achieved our goal. We are dependent on the public. We came to the general public, which is to the right of center and understands that Netanyahu has to be replaced. They can't vote for parties that are left of the center, because they don't identify with them. We liberated that large sector of the public. Now we want to liberate the country from Netanyahu, who in my view has very seriously perverted the values of the Likud.

"He operates like someone who opts for what is good for him rather than what is best for the country and conduct like that is something someone in the national camp can't accept. Therefore, I'm convinced that we need to end Netanyahu's time in office, but only from the national camp, as the camp whose ideas represent the overwhelming majority of the Israeli public." 

Q: Based on the polls, is there a realistic scenario for a coalition of the national camp without Netanyahu as leader? 

"In the event that Netanyahu can't form a government, and can't enlist 61 seats, I call on him to release the Likud and the country and do the patriotic thing and allow someone else from the Likud to lead. That would easily allow the formation of a broad government that can meet all the challenges facing Israel at this time." 

Q: You are calling on him to step down, but you know that won't happen. 

"I don't want to make predictions about what will happen after the election." 

Q: Are there quiet conversations or understanding between you and Bennett about the day after the election? 

"As of today, no. But I assume that later on, there will be a dialogue like that. Sadly, Bennett still hasn't demonstrated commitment to change and he is laying the groundwork for joining another Netanyahu government. But if Bennett is committed to change for Israel, there will be cooperation, and he'll be a good partner. I will never join a Netanyahu government." 

Q: Even if that means a fifth election? 

"That's a very manipulative way of putting it. Netanyahu is directly responsible for Israel holding a fourth election in under two years, which have so far cost $15 billion. He is the sole person who led Israel into this situation and he is the only one who can release it from it. Netanyahu had a coalition of 70 MKs but he avoided passing a budget and dragged Israel into an election, because he preferred what was best for himself. So it's ridiculous to present things as if someone else is responsible for the election, when it's clear that it's him. I don't trust him. His words or any agreements with him are worthless.

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Q: I hear your harsh criticism of Netanyahu, and I conclude that to avoid a fifth election, you'd prefer a government under Lapid, just as long as Netanyahu is out. 

"Not at all. I've already said that such a government would be unfeasible and I won't recommend Lapid to the president. A government can't rest on a party that represents a minority of the public, which will be a minority in the next Knesset, too. After the election, the people who believe in change need to organize, and I hope that Yamina will join us and we will work to form a government. In a situation in which Netanyahu manages to form a government with his partners and Bennett, we will serve the people from the opposition." 

Q: Which begs the question, if you don't succeed in replacing Netanyahu, will you stay in politics and not resign from political life again? 

"Certainly not. I founded a new political movement that just got started. It is already putting down roots. It has support everywhere in Israel. I have no intention of resigning, and I can already see the fingerprints of the person who is spreading those false rumors. True, I took a break, but I came back to serve the people, and I can say that I'll do so until I'm 70 at least. I chose my path, which isn't easy or simple, because I believe that these are the right decisions for the country. I see a large part of the public following me, and I'll continue." 

Q: To sum up, Netanyahu says that he got the vaccines because he is well-known throughout the world. Speaking honestly, can you say he's mistaken, or that you would have achieved the same results? 

"He deserves praise for that success. But the success doesn't make him less responsible for the total failure in managing the COVID crisis, in enforcing the law, the problem of the airport, which had serious ramifications on the spread of the virus and mortality, the school system, and businesses. I don't take any credit from him when it's deserved, but it's appropriate for a leader to know how to not only take credit for success – which has partners – but also not to blame others when there are failures." 

Q: Would you have managed the crisis better? 

"I have no doubt I would have handled it better." 

The post 'Netanyahu, free us from you'  appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

A month ahead of the March 23 Knesset election, Israel Hayom joined leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party Itamar Ben-Gvir for a day of campaigning.

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"If only 20% of the people we met today who said they would vote for me, do, we're in good shape," he says when the day is over. 

"That 20%, I think, will join the Religious Zionist party and give us seven seats," he says. 

It is impossible to ignore the enthusiasm of the crowds that met Ben-Gvir on a tour of cities in Israel's south. But even if everyone who likes him wants to vote for the list he has joined, it's not certain they will know to pick the ballot labeled "Religious Zionist." Ben-Gvir, who was met with excited shouts on visits to Dimona, Netivot, and Beersheba, is admired there not because he is a religious Zionist. It's doubtful he is seen here as belonging to religious Zionism, or whether the people realize that there is now a list that bears that name, as they shout "Otzma Yehudit!" (Jewish Power). 

"In these areas, religious Zionist is seen as something for certain sectors. I connect with them as people, and they connect to me as someone who understands the specific troubles they are confronting," he says. 

An hour earlier, in the Beersheba market, Ben-Gvir had his picture taken with an elderly vegetable seller who, like many others, promised to vote for him. When Ben-Gvir moved away, I asked the vegetable man if he really meant it. 

"Yes, I'll vote for him, because he understands our problems here in Beersheba, and he'll take care of them." 

Q: What unique problems do you have here? 

"There is a lot of assimilation. They [referring to Bedouin] want to go out with our girls. Their crazy behavior on the roads. And the thefts."

Q: And why is Ben-Gvir the one who will take care of it? 

"Because he is the only one who understands that it's terrible." 

Q: And his public image doesn't put you off? 

"Look, Ben-Gvir – he has the problem of extremism. He's very extreme. And the Palestinians are a lot better than the Bedouin. Here in the shuk [market], I'm friends with all the Palestinians. But he doesn't talk about the Palestinians any more. He knows that the Bedouin are a much bigger problem." 

Q: And you believe him? 

"I'm afraid he won't make it past the minimum threshold. The polls in the news don't always tell the truth. 

Q: Who will you vote for? 

"For Ben-Gvir. He'll help us with the Bedouin. He's the only one who understands their language." 

Ben-Gvir, 44, was born in Mevasseret Zion, outside Jerusalem, to a Kurdish Jewish mother and an Iraqi father. He has one older brother, who has volunteered to be his personal driver during the campaign. He graduated from the secular Ort high school in Jerusalem, and only found religion at age 17. The IDF didn't draft him because he was already a leader of the Kahane youth movement. 

"My mother took it hard. After she died, my wife found letters she had sent to then-Chief of Staff Ehud Barak. She told him that he, when she was a member of the IZL, had been arrested by the British for hanging posters – so why wouldn't the Jewish state draft her son?" he recalls. 

Ben-Gvir lives in Givat Ha'avot neighborhood on the edge of Kiryat Arba, but his campaign office is in central Jerusalem and he claims that half of his prospective voters are secular, and many live inside the Green Line. 

The day begins with a meeting with campaign volunteers in Dimona. From there, we went on to Netivot for a meeting with business owners, a quick falafel for campaign workers, and then a parade – with flags – through the city, a kind of celebration of democracy. Women in Volvos and bus drivers honk and blow kisses when they see him. Young people stop for selfies; Haredim extend elbows for a "corona shake." 

Ben-Gvir doesn't miss anyone. "I need you," he tells everyone repeatedly, and they smile and promise to be there for him. Given that in the last election, his party won nearly 19,000 votes, he has something to prove from the No. 3 slot on the united Religious Zionist Party list. 

'This time, the real thing is going to happen' 

The only opposition to Ben-Gvir comes after an hour of marching. Two men playing backgammon on the sidewalk scold him about an incident that happened shortly before the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated: "You tore the emblem off Rabin's car" He walks up to them, shakes their hands, explains that he wasn't the one who did it and that it's important to get the facts right. 

Q: People hold a grudge against you over the Rabin assassination. How did you avoid prison? 

"Because I didn't tear the emblem off of Rabin's car. I said so in TV studios at the time. The one who pulled it off and admitted it to the police was some young guy who the media went easy on because his father was a supporter of Shimon Peres. Today, he's one of our activists, and so is his father." 

Q: Are they sorry for what they did?

"Absolutely, yes. I just brought it to the media and said that if people could get to it, they could get to Rabin. By the way, what I originally said was that if I could get to Rabin, I'd yell at him. That's all. But they cut it off in editing. And 25 years have passed. I'm not there. They're still trying to delegitimize me." 

Q: Possibly, but that's what's building you up. 

"There's no doubt that the attacks from the Left don't hurt my base. From the start of the campaign, Yair Lapid has tweeted, if I'm not mistaken, more than 40 tweets about me. What I like best are the columns in Haaretz because they're hypocrisy at its best – the knights of free speech being outraged about 'How can you give him a platform?' By the way, 15 years ago, it would have worked. I used to be an outcast." 

Q: You are consistently in the headlines. 

"It wasn't always easy. I'll give you an example: In 2008 I started a campaign that said that if we free terrorists, Marwan Barghouti for example, then [Rabin assassin] Yigal Amir should be freed. I'm not in favor of releasing him, but I wanted people to be shocked at the possibility of freeing murderers. No one covered that campaign. I went to the Army Radio correspondent, and he told me candidly: I was ordered not to give you a platform.

"Then my young wife called what was then the program with the biggest audience. She told the host: 'I'm a student at the University of Haifa and you won't believe what I'm seeing here! Posters of a far-right activist!' They put her on the air, and she read out the poster that had supposedly been put up. I called the program to respond, and I said, 'There are no limits to your audacity – you put the left-winger on the air, and not me?' They said, 'There's no time, but we'll let you respond on the evening show.'" 

Q: And that how you became popular? Because of the media's loathing? The Left is against you because you're a follower of Meir Kahane and the Right is against you because you lose votes for it. 

"Everyone knows that I speak what is in my heart. I say what I think. A lot of the people of Israel connect to it. It's not Kiryat Arba and Yitzhar, it's Netivot and Ofakim and Beit Shean. I walk around Tel Aviv, not only in the south, and people admire and love me. There are also people who say, 'We don't agree with you, but we admire your honesty." 

Ben-Gvir used to have a picture of Baruch Goldstein, a Kahane follower responsible for a massacre that killed 29 Muslim worshippers and wounded 125 at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron in 1994, on his wall. 

Q: You took the picture down. Was that a violation of your principles? 

"Ultimately, I didn't want my children to get the message that I was happy about the deaths of Arabs." 

Q: What has changed? You were on the radical fringes of society. 

"The profession. Studying law. I think that practicing law changed a few things in my life. I didn't turn into a Meretz member, but it changes you. When you're inside the system and learn the laws, it's something different." 

Ben-Gvir says he might not have been admitted to the bar if it hadn't been for the late MK Dudu Rotem of YIsrael Beytenu, who was head of the Knesset Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee when the Israel Bar Association wanted to prevent Ben-Gvir from taking the bar exam. 

"I built a practice with my own two hands. I make more than MKs. People are willing to pay a lot, thank God. I told Ayala, my wife, know that we can make a few million in 10 or 15 years, but there's the Knesset. She said, 'Your dream and mine is for you to be in the Knesset to help the Jewish people.'" 

Q: All these years, you've spoken out against the Likud. Where does the sudden support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu come from? 

"To form a right-wing government. If I spoke against Bibi, they'd slander me less." 

Q: But no one in the Likud wants anything to do with you.

"Yes, they're the same people who want me to be the 61st vote that will let them stay on as ministers. But in the current political constellation, I think that if Netanyahu could, he would join Lapid or Gantz or whoever … in 2013, he opted for Lapid, and in 2015 he took Moshe Kahlon and the Likud was saying 'There's no way the justice system can be changed,' and a year ago they said, 'No change is possible because we have Gantz." But now I can be the missing piece of the pie. And maybe then there will be a true right-wing government here."  

Q: As a lawyer, what is your opinion of the Netanyahu cases? 

"Terrible, in my opinion. I feel uncomfortable about the trial and hope that his claims about selective enforcement are accepted. This is a blatant case of that. For years, I've been handling cases like these, but the Likud hasn't done anything about it … Sadly, Netanyahu is being persecuted and is paying the price for his failing to handle incorrect conduct by the legal system." 

Q: So you don't trust Netanyahu. 

"I trust Netanyahu only when I'm watching over him. He makes a lot of declarations that if he were to implement them, reality would be different." 

Q: And thus far he hasn't fulfilled his promises? 

"He has achievements. But when there are people in the south who can't open businesses because of a protection racket, women in south Tel Aviv who don't step outside into the jungle because they're afraid, in the north there's terrorism, and the attorney general is stronger than ever – things need to change." 

Q: What should be changed? 

"There need to be reforms to the legal system. The Supreme Court changes the laws passed by the legislature because they are the true sovereign. What's most important is to change the make-up of the Judges Selection Committee. I completely understand the need for judges with a variety of opinions, and a lot of times I'm happy to appear before the left-wing ones about things that are not ideological, because they accept my clients' cases and everything is great. But most of the Supreme Court justices are on the other side." 

Q: You waited until the last minute to file a petition to disqualify Labor candidate Ibtisam Mara'ana from the party list. Was that a gimmick? 

"Heaven forbid, I'm not comparing, but they disqualified Dr. Michael Ben Ari, Bentzi Gopstein, Baruch Marzel, and her, they leave in? If someone from Otzma Yehudit would have said what Ibtisam said about Zichron Yaakov, but the opposite – that Umm al-Fahm should be destroyed, for example – no judge would have allowed him to stay a candidate for the Knesset, and what's more, a police officer would show up immediately to arrest him." 

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Q: What do you think about Netanyahu taking steps toward the Arabs? 

"I distinguish between the public and the leaders. If he manages to get votes in Nazareth, for example, great. But I won't cooperate with [Ra'am leader] Mansour Abbas. Before the meeting of the committee to disqualify candidates we collected material [on him] and his comments are no gentler than Heba Yazbek or Ahmad Tibi's. One time, he said 'terrorists,' then rushed to apologize and explain that he didn't accept the Jewish terminology and that people who murder Jewish babies were actually freedom fighters. There are things you don't do to win seats." 

Q: Will your bloc with Bezalel Smotrich fall apart after the election? 

"It's a technical bloc. We have our disagreements and our pitfalls. Each of us brings some added value. Bezalel brings the religious Zionists – the mainstream, and I think that religious Zionism isn't just the kippa-wearers or the settlers, but anyone who identified with the values of the Land of the people and the Torah. It's also the people who maintain tradition, say Kiddush Friday night and watch soccer on Saturday morning. Religious Zionism is broader. If we can make connections in every direction, we'll profit hugely." 

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The thousands of Israelis stranded abroad due to Israel's decision to close down air traffic in an attempt to stop the spread of coronavirus and its variants will not be allowed to vote absentee, as current election law does not provide for that possibility.

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When asked about the possibility of Israelis abroad being allowed to vote at embassies and consulates, Director General of the Central Elections Committee Orly Adas said, "The Election Law explicitly states who is allowed to vote at Israeli diplomatic missions and consulates abroad. The list includes envoys of the Foreign Ministry, the Jewish Agency, the World Zionist Organization, and KKL-JNF who are abroad because of work, and their families.

"Therefore, Israelis who happen to be outside the country and were not able to return will not be allowed to vote from abroad," Adas said.

The existing law could only be changed if the Knesset were to immediately pass legislation to alter it to allow Israelis who are barred from returning home by the closed-skies policy to vote at diplomatic missions throughout the world.

If such a change were proposed, the legislative process would have to be completed this week, as absentee voting for the March 23 election is scheduled to take place on Thursday, March 11.

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In a Zoom call with the Likud court a few weeks ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed for the cancellation of party primaries and the possibility to reserve six slots on the Likud's slate. The move was aimed at allowing him to include representatives of various sectors to the party's Knesset list to maximize the party's ability to extract every single possible right-wing vote.

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This time around, the right-wing bloc, which for the time being would be better termed the pro-Netanyahu bloc, looks poised to hold on to most of its votes. As part of Netanyahu's efforts to bring in Arab voters, the party added Arab Israeli educator and longtime Likud activist Nael Zoabi, to its slate on Thursday. The addition of author Gali Distel Etebaryan, whose opinion pieces have appeared in Israel Hayom, has excited many of Netanyahu's Russian Israeli supporters.

The religious Zionist sector will also be able to exhaust its voter potential with the alliance between Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionist Party and Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit and that party's core of ardent supporters.

Naftali Bennett's Yamina party is still on the fence, for the time being.

Netanyahu can also be pleased with what is happening over on the Left. Most polls predict Gantz, whose Blue and White party is capable of taking votes from the Right, failing to make it past the minimum electoral threshold. The Joint Arab List has broken up, and Yair Lapid is looking like the leader of the "anyone but Bibi" camp. The latter makes it easier for Netanyahu to make this election about Right versus Left, rather than Right versus Right, as he would if he were to contend with New Hope's Gideon Sa'ar.

Netanyahu is heading into the upcoming election having done as much as he could to exhaust the right-wing vote. Despite his best efforts, the coronavirus may be what ultimately decides how he fares on March 23.  A massive outbreak in the days leading up to the election would spell disaster for the Likud, but if the vaccination campaign succeeds in reining in the pandemic, that will have a huge impact on Election Day.

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If we have learned one lesson from the three recent elections, it's that we need to reduce the number of parties running for the Knesset – at both ends of the political spectrum.

The overabundance of parties leads to a huge number of votes being wasted on lists that don't make it past the minimum electoral threshold of 3.25%; a lack of the public's faith in the governability of the Knesset; and often a situation in which neither bloc emerges as a clear winner. What's worse, given the current state of Israeli politics, it is not inconceivable to think that we'll find ourselves heading into another election soon after the upcoming one.

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Let's take a look at the numbers: In the last year and a half, we've had three close elections, but what was notable was the fact that in the election for the 21^st Knesset, in April 2019, 366,000 valid ballots were thrown away. This has astonishing ramifications, since in that election 32,860 votes were needed to secure a single Knesset seat. In other words – in that election, the parties that failed to make it past the minimum threshold threw away some 11 seats.

A simple tally of the right-wing parties that didn't make it into the Knesset – Yamina (then the New Right) and Zehut – shows us that technically, if those lists had run on a joint ticket, Israel would have a right-wing government with a majority of about 70 Knesset seats. That would have allowed it to easily pass basic laws without any need for Avigdor Lieberman, who probably would have joined it, anyway. It's hard to conceive how that split on the Right has affected Israel.

Only some of the lesson is being learned

In the election for the 22^nd Knesset in September 2019, it looked as if some of the parties had learned their lesson, and they united. When MK Orly Levy-Abekasis ran with a larger party and three right-wing parties formed the United Right, it dropped the number of lost votes down to 126,000, about a third of what it was in the April 2019 election. In the September 2019 election, each Knesset seat was "worth" about 35,000 votes – meaning that instead of 11 seats lost because parties failed to make it past the minimum threshold, 3.5 seats were lost. But when we examine those lost seats, it turns out that 2.9 of them were lost to the Right because of Otzma Yehudit and Tzomet. In that election, too, splits on the Right led to a draw.

In the March 2020 election for the 23^rd Knesset, it appeared that both sides learned their lesson. And still, the Right dropped 24,500 votes on parties that didn't make it past the minimum threshold.

These three close election taught both camps that they need to minimize the number of votes lost to small parties. Still, going into the campaign for the 24^th Knesset, the political system is in absolute chaos that could see a huge number of votes that fall by the wayside, and another undecided election.

If the election were held right now, with the parties as they currently stand, a lot more than 300,000 votes would be lost to the minimum threshold. That could chip away at the government's legitimacy or make the government so diverse that it is impossible to form a government. And then, we would have to hold yet another election.

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Unity on the Left – This was the thrust of Defense Minister Benny Gantz's prime-time appeal on Monday evening to all the parties in the bloc.

The Left cannot allow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to smash us into pieces, Gantz exhorted his camp in a televised press conference.

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"This is an emergency," he said. "There is great danger that the opportunity will pass by if we remain scattered in so many factions," he said.

"I am calling on everyone who cares about Israel, to everyone who won't join Bibi, to forgo his ego and unite … Everyone who really won't join a government under Bibi. Let's meet, we'll find the way forward. We'll discover what we have in common. Let's sit down, tomorrow. I am inviting you – 8 p.m., we'll find solutions. I expect all of us to be there," Gantz said, appealing directly to Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, Telem leader Moshe Ya'alon, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman, Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz, Labor MK Itsik Shmuli, and Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, former Treasury official Yaron Zelekha, and former Yesh Atid MK Ofer Shelah, who  recently announced they were forming their own parties to run in the March 2021 election.

"Let's unite for the good of the country. Without the failures of the past, without fear, without ego. I'm ready to sacrifice a lot, as I've already proved, if it means Bibi goes. If we get rid of our egos, we get rid of Bibi. Let's unite to get rid of Bibi," he said.

For the first time, Gantz also explicitly stated he had been wrong to join a government under Netanyahu, breaking his promise to Blue and White voters.

"I was wrong. I shook hands with the man I promised to replace. I shook hands with a serial breaker of promises. I shook it because, as a soldier, Israel was at war, and it was my duty. As a real and deadly pandemic threatened us all, Netanyahu continued to divide us and incite because it served his personal interests, and helped him avoid the specter of his trial," Gantz said.

When Israel Hayom asked Gantz if he would support internal primaries to elect a leader of the center-left bloc if some of all of the parties managed to unit, Gantz replied, "We'll find a way."

When asked who might be expected to take the No. 2 slot on the Blue and White list, he responded, "The answer will come in a few days."

Yes Atid issued a response to Gantz's speech: "We will do everything we can to create partnerships that will lead to a sane, liberal government that will chance the country."

The Likud said: "While politicians are busy with politics, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has brought millions of vaccines to the people of Israel and is leading Israel toward being the first country in the world to come out of the COVID crisis, reopen its economy, and get back to living its life."

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Lieberman responded: "We already had a chance to get rid of Bibi, but you [Gantz] avoided becoming a 'reserve' prime minister. The only thing you can do now for the country is announce that you aren't running in the next Knesset election."

Ya'alon, a member of the former Blue and White "cockpit," said after Gantz's speech that "Israel is in one of its darkest hours in terms of a collapse of leadership, norms, and values. This election is not about Right vs. left, but a choice between honest or corrupt; democracy or dictatorship; truth or lies. We will do everything we must to restore hope. The protests will emerge victorious!"

As Gantz was speaking to his fellow center-left leaders, Shelah was making his own announcement, in which he urged Huldai, Avi Nissankoren, and Labor leaders to consider running on a joint ticket.

"You all know me. We've worked on deals and political activity. There are no preconditions. Let's sit down, let's negotiate, we'll reach an agreement and put together a political entity that an entire camp is longing for. Then there can be other partnerships, but let's start," Shelah said.

The former Yesh Atid MK added that only if one party united the center-left would it be possible to prevent Netanyahu from forming the next government: "Only a [political] entity like that can provide an answer for hundreds of thousands of Israelis who don't have a political home. If it is formed quickly, it could reach a double-digit number of seats and shape the next government," he said.

Earlier Monday, Huldai himself also told reporters he favored political partnerships on the center-left "without ego." Huldai was asked if he was in favor of Lapid, who is holding steady in the polls, leading a center-left bloc.

"Lapid has already run five times, unsuccessfully. Other than that, I saw that people leave him – Bogie [Ya'alon] left, Shelah left," Huldai said.

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Throughout his tenure, a high percentage of Israel's electorate has consistently supported and voted for Netanyahu's Likud party, with more than 1 million Israelis voting this week for Likud. The high number of votes is significant because they were cast despite of, or perhaps in response to, the ongoing charges against him by Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit.

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In addition to Netanyahu's pending legal woes, it's the right-wing flank – Netanyahu's natural coalition partners – that has been imploding and defecting, now leaving the prime minister short of a parliamentary majority.

In November 2018, a year before the government's term was to end, Avigdor Lieberman resigned his post as defense minister and pulled his six-seat Yisrael Beytenu party out of a stable, right-wing and religious coalition totaling 67 seats. Lieberman charged that the government (of which he was part) was reacting too weakly to ongoing conflict with Gaza at Netanyahu's instruction.

Lieberman's resignation left the government with a 61-seat right-wing majority. Rather than continue to lead a narrow government until elections pre-scheduled for November 2019, Netanyahu called early elections in the spring in an effort to strengthen his mandate to continue leading the country while simultaneously fighting corruption charges.

Just prior to the April 9 election, Mandelblit announced that he intended to indict Netanyahu on three separate counts of breach of trust, pending hearings that are now tentatively scheduled to commence in the coming weeks.

The looming charges, which Netanyahu has insisted are intended to push him from office, did little to deter Likud's core voters. In April's polls, Netanyahu's Likud received 35 seats, a five-seat increase over the previous elections in 2015.

Despite the significant electoral increase, Netanyahu surprisingly found himself unable to form a right-wing government. The right-wing and religious parties together received 65 seats in the April election, with the heads of each party recommending that Netanyahu be charged with forming the government.

Lieberman, whose resignation forced the collapse of the previous government, ultimately refused to join a Netanyahu-led government over a clash with the religious parties on a law that would increase the number of haredi conscripts to the army. Without Yisrael Beytenu's five seats, Netanyahu was left with only 60 MKs – one short of a majority. Rather than empower another Knesset member to form a coalition, he convinced the 65 members of the right-wing bloc, including Lieberman, to vote to dissolve the newly elected Knesset and head to second elections.

The defection of Lieberman's party from a right-wing bloc led by Netanyahu was not the only move that prevented a right-wing majority for Netanyahu.

Prior to the April elections, longtime Habayit Hayehudi leaders Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked decided to break off and create the New Right party, which focused on attracting secular right-wing voters. Early polls had shown that together, Habayit Hayehudi and New Right would significantly increase their seats. The gambit was a tremendous failure, as New Right failed to cross the 3.25% minimum electoral threshold by 2,000 votes. Crossing the threshold would have given New Right four seats. Had the New Right entered the Knesset and supported Netanyahu, Lieberman's defection would still have left Netanyahu with a small majority.

In September, Bennett and Shaked crawled back to Habayit Hayehudi with their New Right faction. However, the far-right faction Otzma Yehudit, which had joined Habayit Hayehudi in April, was jettisoned and so ran on its own. They, too, fell short of the four seats required to cross the electoral threshold. Had they joined Habayit Hayehudi, the two seats worth of votes they received would have gone to the right-wing bloc, with at least one of the seats likely coming at the expense of left-wing challengers.

The right-wing nationalist parties, of which Habayit Hayehudi is a mainstay, have a history of internal divisions that have kept their MK totals steady and on the far fringe of Israeli politics for decades, despite a constituency with among the highest birthrates in the country.

Further adding to Netanyahu's coalition difficulties was the implosion of the center-right Kulanu party. In 2015, then-former Likud minister Moshe Kahlon established the moderate right-wing alternative to Likud, winning 10 seats. Kulanu joined Netanyahu's government with Kahlon receiving the finance ministry. In April, Kulanu fell to barely four seats, just above the Knesset threshold. Facing extinction in Tuesday's elections, Kahlon merged back into the Likud party. Together, Likud and Kulanu had 39 seats following April's polls. In September, Likud, now including Kulanu, received only 31 seats.

Without the relative comfort and stability of his natural right-wing partners, Netanyahu currently has a bloc of only 55 Knesset members supporting him to form a government – six seats short of a majority.

Netanyahu's opposition, led by Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz, now holds 33 seats – two more than Likud – placing it in pole position to form a government. Still, their natural partners to the left-wing will give them a bloc of only 44 seats. Even if Lieberman's right-wing Yisrael Beytenu were to cross party lines to join Blue and White, the center-left bloc would only secure 52 seats, still trailing behind Netanyahu's remaining right-wing bloc.

The deadlock now increases the likelihood of a national unity government comprised of both Likud, and Blue and White. But Gantz has said that he refuses to sit in any government led by Netanyahu, and Netanyahu is thus far unwilling to yield the prime minister's chair to his challenger or to another member of the Likud party.

Unless Netanyahu can find defectors from across the aisle – or convince Lieberman and his now-eight seats to return to the camp – not only is Netanyahu's rule in jeopardy but so are the years of right-wing governments.

And if party leaders to either the Right or Left together cannot build a coalition of at least 60 MKs, Israel may yet find itself in another election in the months ahead.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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