"I will be prime minister," Yamina leader Naftali Bennett repeats with determination during an interview to Israel Hayom.

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For the hour he speaks to the paper, he sticks to his guns, talking about plans for "when I'm prime minister" and "possible partners in my government."

But Bennett's words don't align with the numbers – they aren't even close. According to the polls, Bennett is the leader of the party that will be the fourth-largest, and no matter how we press, probe, toss around different scenarios, and demand to know how that would make him prime minister, he repeats his statement.

However, while a lot can be said about Bennett, he's no newbie. At one point, he was wiped off the political map, and then he became defense minister despite his party having only three seats. He was a good education minister and won praise for his work as defense minister, and he's not a sucker. In the last few weeks he celebrated another exit, this time of a fintech startup that added tens of millions of shekels to his already full bank account.

Q: Polls are showing you with 10-12 seats. How do you see that making you prime minister?

"If I get to 15 seats, I'll be prime minister. Believe me, I know how to do it. I'll succeed thanks to the fact that I'm not part of the boycott-Netanyahu cult or the Netanyahu-worship cult. Some of the national public feels that Israel will cease to exist once he is no longer in power. He managed to inculcate that believed, but it's wrong. Right after Passover we'll shake Netanyahu's hand, say, 'Thanks a lot, prime minister,' and replace him. The public should know that it's possible to replace him and keep the Right in power. I think that's critical for Israel to take off, because we're treading water. That's why I'm not willing to boycott anyone."

"The people are hurt. I'm the only one who can prevent a fifth election. I won't allow that to happen. We'll take the forces, build a government for national change, that could include parties that are not on the Right. I have no problem with that, as long as I'm prime minister. Anyone who supports a Jewish, democratic state can participate in a government that will take Israel forward."

Q: If Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid wins more seats than you, and New Hope leader Gideon Sa'ar wins more seats, how will you become prime minister?

"You'll see that it's possible. In the end, most of the Israeli people, not the 'Anyone but Bibi' folks from the protest cult on Balfour St., want the same thing: to get out of the endless impasse. They realize that voting for Netanyahu will lead to more and more elections, they don't want a left-wing government, and they want to take Israel forward. Netanyahu has to be replaced, but with someone from the national camp."

Q: What does that mean?

"There are people whose main motive is revenge. I'm saying that we need to thank Netanyahu, and now it's time for Bennett. You'll see that the moment the psychological change happens, the moment they imagine Bennett sitting in the prime minister's seat, it will happen."

Q: Mind games don't change the numbers.

"Skepticism always goes along with any big move. Today, I'm telling you for the first time that I'm running for prime minister … Because we are the only ones who don't boycott anyone and aren't being boycotted, it will be possible to create a national government."

Q: Is there any scenario in which Bennett is prime minister, Netanyahu foreign minister, Sa'ar defense minister, and Lapid finance minister?

"The government you're describing could exist, or something similar. It's possible. Everyone thinks that things can't change … In my years in politics I've proven my ability to lead political processes."

Q: You started the campaign with a projected 20 seats, and now you're down to 11.

"We're making a comeback. Anyone who is only passionate about hating Netanyahu won't vote for me. Anyone who worships Netanyahu also won't vote for me. My voters are people who want to move Israel ahead, who want to see a civilian paradise here."

Q: Don't your supporters deserve to know whether or not you'll join a Netanyahu government?

"I'm saying that I'm on my way to replacing him. Without a change of leadership, we won't get out of the mud. If we keep voting for the parties we voted for in the last three elections, we'll get the same result. I am voicing change, which is why I'm running for prime minister.

"I'm building a government that will propel Israel forward. Everything is stalled. Even Netanyahu's supporters understand that voting for him will lead to an impasse. Netanyahu can't bring the people together, can't create the momentum. 32 years is a long time. It's time to pass the baton to a new leadership from the Right. But his supporters and I realize that he should be thanked.

"I'm not interested in the obsession with Netanyahu. After the election, I'll do what's best for Israel."

Q: How could you join a government with Sa'ar, who promoted anonymous negative articles about you?

"I feel like I have a target on my back. For a few months now, Sa'ar has been publishing stuff about me, anonymously. Netanyahu has been doing that for years. Bezalel Smotrich started a campaign against me. But their campaigns contradict one another – some say I'll join a Netanyahu government, and Netanyahu says I'll join the other side."

Q: Could you join them after all this mudslinging?

"Obviously, it's possible. Unfortunately, Gideon [Sa'ar] waged an anonymous, illegal campaign against me. He only admitted it when he was caught in the act, and then remembered to call for a ceasefire. Now members of his party are continuing the attacks against us. That isn't our way. I'm doing something strange for a political campaign: I'm presenting work plans.

Q: There are vaccines, Israel is the first to make it past COVID, and even cultural events are starting again. Are you presenting too chilling a picture?

"COVID isn't even the issue. COVID just reflects the terrible lack of management that we had here. All the variants came through the airport, which was wide open. They shut down schools, and failed, rather than moving the chairs outside to the open air.

"But if we look at the last 12 years in which Netanyahu was in power, we see, for example, that we lost the Negev. Bedouin gangs are running protection rackets. I phoned the father of the 10-year-old girl who was raped and he told me that no one cares about them, that none of the government ministers had spoken to them. The prime minister gets photographed when vaccines arrive, but not to go out and meet with people. There is a sense that the government doesn't care. Housing prices are going up and up.

"This past year, I've gone around the country and I've seen all the problems. Ultimately, a young couple who served in the army and pays taxes has no chance of making it in Israel. They leave. There is a failure of management. Look at what is happening at the airport."

"In a book I wrote about ways to handle COVID I wrote that it needed to be addressed like a security problem. Even in the years when the security and defense reality was a tough one, Israel didn't close its skies – it stepped up security. That's what we need to do. Ensure that there are tests before flights and orderly documentation. It's so simple."

When asked about some of the highly-public controversies with former political partners, Bennett says, "from the moment the campaign started, I've tried to speak to the point. From the start of the campaign, Smotrich said we no longer have values, and we'd join the Arab parties and the 'lovers of Hitler.' I think that's silly. It's disappointing to see a campaign based solely on attacking us. Why? Am I less of an ideologue than Smotrich? Do I love the country less? Was my army service of less value than his? Did our party contribute less than his?"

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"His remarks about 'Bennett abandoning values' are harsh. It was me who stopped the handover of Israeli territory under the Kerry plan. … So I'm not willing to accept preaching about having lost values, and I won't be judged by the size of my kippa. I'm proud of who I am and of my family."

When Israel Hayom asks Bennett if he would consider joining a government with the Labor party, he replies, "The historic Labor party is all right. But [now] there is a candidate who can't be part of the coalition because she opposes Israel as a Jewish and democratic state."

Q: A right-wing person like you says the Labor party is a legitimate coalition partner?

"The rule is simple: I won't form a government with parties that Netanyahu wouldn't. Netanyahu brought in Avi Nissankoren. In 2009, Netanyahu tossed out National Union to bring in Ehud Barak, he opted for the Left. In 2013, the first one he signed was Tzipi Livni. He always leaves the ideological Right and the religious Zionists for last."

Q: This time, he's taking [Otzma Yehudit leader] Itamar Ben-Gvir. 

"That's his right."

Q: Is there a problem with Ben-Gvir being an MK?

"No problem."

Q: And his being a minister?

"As far as I'm concerned, my cabinet ministers will be people who openly support a Jewish, democratic state."

Bennett reiterates that his goal is not "to perpetuate 32 years of Netanyahu, but to bring about a new reality."

Q: And if that doesn't happen?

"It will happen. It has to happen."

Q: And if it doesn't, and Netanyahu invites you into his government, will you go?

"I've said 100 times that I'm not boycotting Netanyahu, that we need to replace Netanyahu."

Q: Would you prefer to have a government with Merav Michaeli and [Meretz leader] Nitzan Horowitz than with Netanyahu?

"No. That's another Netanyahu spin. He is the one who always brought people from the Left into his governments and appointed people like Nissankoren justice minister. A moment before the election, he starts with that spin."

Q: Can Gideon Sa'ar be prime minister?

"I'm not giving him a grade. Gideon Sa'ar is a skilled politician, and not someone I rule out. The main thing we need today is initiative, energy, and management of a major national crisis."

Q: And he doesn't have those?

"I don't know what he did during COVID. While I was traveling the country, setting up COVID hotels as defense minister and saving lives, I don't know what he was doing. We should judge leaders based on moments of crises."

Q: Can Lapid be prime minister?

"Lapid is Left. I won't be a partner in the establishment of a left-wing government … I look at years of his policies, his attacks on the settlers during the expulsion from Gush Katif, the article about the money 'buried between Itamar and Yitzhar.' In the moment of truth, Lapid is there on the Left."

Q: So you won't join him under any circumstances?

"I'll form the government. We will only replace Netanyahu from the Right, not the Left. The vast majority of the people are on the Right, there are about 80 Knesset seats on the Right, so the prime minister has to come from the Right. I'll form a right-wing government whose core will be the Right. I'm not ruling out parties that are in favor of Jewish, democratic state. There will be fundamentals that we will lay out, and anyone who accepts them can join."

Q: What did you think about Lapid saying he would join a government with the Joint Arab List?

"It showed how big a gap there is between us and him."

Q: Will the Haredim join your government?

"The Haredim can be partners in the government, but not run the show. The ones who run the government are the people."

Q: Netanyahu should be collapsing. How is he still the head of the largest party?

"People have become convinced that there is no Israel without him. They need to stop thinking that Netanyahu is the only one, realize that every leader can be replaced. Israel succeeded before him … He is part of a chain of leaders.

Q: What is the worst mistake he's made?

"Neglect. Masses of people are suffering and paying for the mistakes without anyone knowing. There are the million residents of southern Israel, young couples without prospects even before COVID, the cost of living, all the domestic issues. And of course, as the person who thought up the sovereignty plan back in 2011, when everyone laughed at me and said it was impossible, it pains me to see that Israel hasn't applied sovereignty. The Jordan Valley, Ariel, and Ofra could now be part of the state of Israel. Menachem Begin didn't talk, he applied sovereignty."

Q: Will your coalition partners go along with sovereignty?

"If we get enough seats, they won't have a choice."

Q: Are you in contact with them? With Sa'ar? Avigdor Lieberman?

"I'm talking to all the players on the political field. Politics isn't about promoting things everyone agrees on, but about finding common ground."

Q: Is there any chance that when you're prime minister, your 'fuse' will be longer?

"As defense minister you make decisions about people's lives every day. You send people to operations that could end with them dying. That process makes you think a lot more. It doesn't contradict the need to move Israel forward, quickly. My vision for a government is of a high-tech government, with goals for the ministers. I was in Netanyahu government for eight years and the prime minister never called me in and asked me what my goals were. When I was a high tech CEO, every manager came in with goals, every quarter."

Q: What is the first thing you will do as prime minister?

"I'll sign of on dramatic reductions to taxation and regulation, to make the market a free one."

Q: Who will your ministers be?

"I'm not appointing ministers right now.

Congratulated on his latest exit, Bennett says, "That's exactly what I want – high tech, business economic thinking that moves forward."

The post 'Netanyahu must be replaced, but only from the Right'   appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

There were unpopular comments about "conversion therapy" for the LGBTQ community that kept the entire country busy.

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Peretz, a yeshiva head and educator, "found himself" in politics. The dark circles under his eyes seem to cry out, "What do I need this for?" The friendly smile from when he first started out in politics a few months ago is now running almost on auto-pilot. And he is being very, very careful about what he says.

In the past few weeks, Peretz, or as he is better known in religious Zionist circles, "Rabbi Rafi," has been at the epicenter of political events like former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked's return to politics. Plenty of headlines have focused on the tension between the two. On Sunday, Peretz announced that he would be forgoing the top spot on a united list of right-wing parties. On Monday, his party and Shaked's agreed to make a joint run for the Knesset, with Shaked as No. 1.

'The talks were conducted in good spirit'

"I'm calm and at peace with what happened at the start of the week," Peretz tells Israel Hayom in his first interview after the unification was announced. "It was a special week, a week where we had to live up to our commitment to the public to form mergers. We stayed focused on responsibility toward the nation, and that's how I approached this week. When I realized that to save the right-wing government and strengthen religious Zionism, I had to step aside, I decided I would step aside."

Q: How hard were the negotiations? How far apart were you?

"There were a lot of differences, a lot of thought and discussion, [but] everything was handled in good spirit. I met with Ayelet and [former education minister] Naftali Bennett a few times prior to this week. We reached all kinds of watersheds, we realized that the only way to solve them was to have a marathon sit-down."

Q: For weeks, there was bad blood between you two. You were accused of not giving up your spot to Shaked, despite the polls [showing that she was more popular] and that you were the one holding up the merger.

"I was looking ahead. What was important to me was being part of a strong right-wing government under [Prime Minister Benjamin ] Netanyahu. It's important to me, and I understand that to make that happen we mustn't lose a single vote. There were a lot of negotiations for mergers. Gladly, it came to pass with the United Right."

Q: Were there moments when the negotiations were on the brink of blowing up?

"The negotiations were salvaged when I decided to give Ayelet the top spot. Later, we sat down together and achieved some very good things. We [Habayit Hayehudi] didn't give up our place on the list. We wanted five out of the top eight spots, and six places in the top 10, and that's what we got. I think that when we go to our voters, they'll see that it was a fair offer. Everyone had to pay a price. … It's the people of Israel who are benefiting, and that's the main thing, as far as I'm concerned. If I'd wanted to worry about myself, I'd have done things differently. Maybe even stayed at home," Peretz says, laughing.

Q: In effect, Habayit Hayehudi made two concessions – both on leading the joint list and on places on the list. You wanted the New Right [under Bennett and Shaked] to have only three out of the top 10 spots, and in the end, they got four.

"Even those four places came after lengthy discussions. I don't feel like we lost. I'm sure that unity is the winning card."

Q: There was a debate about recommending Netanyahu as prime minister and having him form the next government. You insisted that the agreement state in writing that he will be your only recommendation. They wanted to recommend "a right-wing candidate."

"That's right. I insisted we recommend Netanyahu as prime minister. That was a condition."

Q: Why?

"Because I think he does his work faithfully. I've had the privilege of seeing him up-close these past few months, and I see his work, his thinking. He does a lot for Israel in the world. He understands the issue of the Land of Israel, he won't evacuate settlements, and he will stand up to [US President] Trump. We'll need a prime minister who will take a strong stance like that."

Q: Why didn't they [the New Right] want to recommend him?

"Ask them. Ultimately, it wasn't unilateral. We all agreed and went with it."

Q: Some on the Right are speaking out against absolute support for Netanyahu. They say he's giving money to Hamas, evacuated [the settlement of] Amona, not evacuating Khan al-Amar. That he isn't exactly enacting your agenda.

"I never said he is the embodiment of everything I think, but politically, he's closest to my opinions. He's the most loyal to the Right, to the Land of Israel, to the values of Jewish tradition."

Q: During the negotiations, there was discussion about attacking Netanyahu in your campaign. You demanded that it not happen. Did you win?

"We won't attack him. In our previous campaign, and the current one, we don't denigrate others. Last time, we spoke a bit about Bennett and Shaked leaving Habayit Hayehudi, but other than that, we talk ourselves up, speak well of others, of the prime minister. We believe that's what a real campaign is."

Q: Shaked and Bennett have reason to worry. In recent years, Netanyahu sounded out [former Labor leader] Isaac Herzog as a possible coalition partner before reaching out to the religious Zionists. Aren't you concerned that Netanyahu might reach out to others this time, too?

"If we succeed in our mission to secure 61 MKs, we can build a government. I'm sure that the prime minister will see us as his natural partners and want to build the next government with us."

Q: And if you don't?

"They'll need to wrack their brains about what to do."

Q: Do you think a right-wing government is possible without Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman?

Lieberman will lead to Disengagement II

"We've already been there. If we'd had one more seat, we'd have been there. Our base is stable at 61 MKS, without Lieberman. One of the goals of the merger was to get to 61 seats. The intention of the merger was not to secure the minimum possible – we want to bring a spirit of unity. A spirit of partnership, a spirit that will cause many different sectors to join us."

"The religious Zionist base is worth 15 seats. If we manage to bring in some traditional Jews, too, maybe it's 17. We'll be in a completely different position. We definitely believe that we can get there. Lieberman is up by four or five seats. Part of the issue is not to allow him to decide who forms the government, but to divert votes from him back to us. We are the only ones to the right of Netanyahu. Everyone can see us as their [political] home."

"As someone who was evicted from his home [in the 2005 disengagement from the Gaza Strip], I'm telling you that Lieberman will lead us to Disengagement II. We see the conference that President Trump organized. It's a welcome initiative, but if we have a left-wing government, the results for the settlements could be catastrophic."

Q: Maybe you're wrong. According to electoral forecasts, a joint run will bring you eight seats. If every right-wing party were to run alone, each one would get five. You'd be bigger.

"We might get five seats, or maybe two wouldn't make it past the minimum electoral threshold. You can't take chances. We're more in need of nine definite seats than 10 possible ones."

'I feel a lot of support'

Peretz, 63, lives in Holot Halutza in the western Negev. He is married to Michal, 60, and a father of 12 – the eldest of whom is 41, and the youngest is 15. He doesn't count his grandchildren for fear of the Evil Eye.

He was born to a traditional Moroccan family that in terms of religious observance was "partly here, partly there," as he puts it. He grew up in Kiryat Yovel in Jerusalem, was accepted to the prestigious yeshiva high school Netiv Meir, and graduated with major-generals Elazar Stern, Yair Naveh, and Prof. Yishai Bar. In his youth, he was an outstanding athlete. In 1973, at age 17, he became the national decathlon champion.

He served in the Israeli Air Force as a helicopter pilot and completed his military service at the rank of major. As a reservist, he trained young pilots. After being released from compulsory service, he studied at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva and at Yeshivat Hakotel in Jerusalem, where he was ordained as a rabbi. In 1992 he founded Otzem, a pre-military academy in Atzmona, which is considered one of the flagship pre-military programs.

On March 7, 2002, as the Second Intifada raged, a terrorist broke into Atzmona, entered the Otzem building, and murdered five of Peretz's students. Over the years, he lost another 10 to various military operations, including brothers Eliraz and Uriel Peretz (who are not related to him). Since then, he says, he has been in very close contact with their mother, activist and educator Miriam Peretz.

In June 2010, Peretz was invited to return to the military as chief IDF rabbi, and made headlines with a directive he issued on mixed-gender military service. The directive, which examined the appropriate integration of men and women in the military, came under criticism from both sides: rabbis argued that it wasn't stringent enough, while women's rights groups claimed he was excluding women.

Another major event of his term as IDF chief rabbi was the question of soldiers who were presumed killed in action during Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014. His role demanded that he declare the deaths of Lt. Hadar Goldin and Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul, and he was the one who gave the awful news to their families. Peretz says he is still in contact with Goldin's father, Simcha, as well as with the families of other missing soldiers.

A few months before the April 9 election for the 21^st Knesset, after Shaked and Bennett left Habayit Hayehudi, Peretz answered a call to the colors to try and save the religious Zionist party, which polls showed failing to pass the minimum threshold. On election day, the party wound up with five seats, which led to him being appointed as education minister.

The public issue is greater than the personal. This merger is a merger until the election.

Q: Let's go back to the negotiations for a merger of the smaller right-wing parties. How difficult was it for you to give up your place to Shaked?

"It was hard, but not hard in the personal sense. I thought that the head of the religious Zionist party should be someone who came from there. But now we're opening up a new horizon of a united Right, in which we'll let the electorate win. The public issue is greater than the personal. This merger is a merger until the election. When I realized that to demonstrate responsibility toward the nation, this is what I needed to do - that's what I did."

Q: What happened that made you realize that after so many weeks of opposition?

"We learned our lesson in the last election – that there was a risk we wouldn't make it over the minimum threshold. Slowly, I began to understand the big picture from the polls, and from tests of popularity. We want to bring in another seat so the right-wing government will win, and that's what needed to be done."

Q: Three weeks ago, in an interview to Channel 12, you said that "seats aren't the main issue." Now it sounds like you're saying something different.

"I'm interested in seats, and I realized that we couldn't reach the number of seats [we needed] any other way. I'm concerned with responsibility toward the country."

Q: But the New Right didn't make it past the minimum threshold at all, unlike you. Why did you need to step aside? Did you feel pressure from the public?

"There wasn't pressure in the sense of a growing tide on the street. It was a true, deep, sense that we need to do everything possible so that a right-wing government can win. In the last election, those who split, lost, and those who united, won."

Q: Why do you think Ayelet Shaked is predicted to bring in more voters? Because she's a woman? Because she's secular?

"That's a question you should ask other people, maybe journalists. I tried to accept the data at face value. Not dig. Maybe one day I'll look into it."

Q: What did people around you say when you stepped aside?

"I feel a lot of support from those around me for the move and the merger. The public wanted unity."

I espouse devotion, faithfulness, Jewish tradition, love of the people and the land ... Secularists don't need to be afraid of us. The opposite – with Ayelet Shaked and other figures they can identify with, there is room for everyone."

Q: A lot of secular right-wingers say they have no one for whom to vote. Some don't want Netanyahu, but also don't want a religious-national religious party with people who talk about a state that is governed by Jewish law and conversion therapy for the LGBTQ community.

"Religious Zionism reaches all parts of society. I'm from the periphery, live near Gaza, everyone is my brother, either religious or secular. There is no such thing as 'national religious' in my life. … There's a large sector of the public who knows that we have a balanced, loving, religious approach and proudly fly our flags – the flags of the Torah, the Land of Israel, and the state of Israel."

Q: And what should a secular voter who doesn't connect to these values do?

"I won't hide them. These are what we believe in. Anyone they're good for is welcome, we'll embrace them. If they're not? That's fine, I can respect that. They can go elsewhere."

Q: A secular person doesn't connect to a state run by Jewish law.

"That's not something I believe in. I espouse devotion, faithfulness, Jewish tradition, love of the people and the land. I hope that in the next few months and years we can show that we truly love this nation. Believe in it. Secularists don't need to be afraid of us. The opposite – with Ayelet Shaked and other figures they can identify with, there is room for everyone."

Q: What will happen with your united list after the election?

"We don't plan to stay together. It's a 'technical bloc." Maybe for the coalition negotiations, but there is no intention of staying together after that."

Q: After the merger was announced, the Likud put out a strongly-worded message that it was a "fake" merger and the fact that you didn't bring in Otzma Yehudit was putting the right-wing government at risk and would lead to its downfall. What did you think about that?

"We made an effort. I personally made an enormous effort to bring Otzma Yehudit on board and ignore a lot of things that happened along the way, including the way they were speaking. Before the big merger I said, let's sit down and join together, take the 4^th and 8^th places on the list."

Q: Did Netanyahu promise you that if you didn't merge with the New Right, you would stay on as education minister?

"I don't remember him saying anything like that. In any case, in the upcoming negotiations, I'll ask to be education minister."

Q: How do you see the relations between Netanyahu and Ayelet Shaked?

"You need to ask them. I'm not their spokesperson. From what I've seen, when Shaked was in the government with him, she was a good justice minister. She did good work, brought in good judges and rabbinical court judges and helped move good laws forward."

Q: That's interesting, because the prime minister pressured you not to merge with her.

"There was no pressure like that. The prime minister and I talk a lot. He didn't say don't form a merger. That's incorrect."

Q: There was talk that you said yourself, or other religious Zionist rabbis said, that a woman can't serve as party leader.

"There's some confusion. I said that a religious Zionist party, like Habayit Hayehudi, should be led by someone who grew up in the religious Zionist community. A person who follows the commandments. Man or woman, it doesn't matter, the main thing is that they grew up in [the community] and understand religious Zionism. Ayelet Shaked is head of the United Right, which is a broader list, that's not restricted to the religious, and there's certainly no problem with that."

'Itsik Shmuli was embarrassing'

I ask Peretz to what extent he regrets entering politics. He takes a deep breath. "I didn't come from political circles. I came in knowing that I'd been given a mission – to try and raise religious Zionism to its natural place. That mission isn't complete. I want to finish it, and we'll do that in the next government. In the next few years, we'll try and make it back into the center of things."

Q: You were prominent in the religious world, a pilot in the reserves. You had a prestigious pre-military academy. When you go to sleep at night, do you ask yourself, 'What do I need this for?'

"I go to sleep late, and when I do, I fall asleep right away. I learned that if you're a soldier who is faithful to his path and his vision, you don't need to be afraid of a long road ahead."

Q: Does that mean you don't regret your remarks?

"The most important thing for me is to be able to look at myself in the mirror and ask if I'm being faithful to my values, my truth, to the mission I took upon myself. When the answer is yes, I'll keep going with all my strength. When I falter, I'll resign. I don't have any regrets."

Q: In the cabinet, you voted in favor of a plan to build hundreds of housing units for Palestinians in Area C.

"What is happening now in Area C when it comes to Palestinians taking over open land has to do with a lack of governance and a 'Wild West' situation. Israel can't abandon its rights to its last land. In a few years, Area C will be full of Palestinian buildings and we'll be left with a headline."

"The plan approved by the cabinet finally regulates construction there. The IDF and the Civil Administration will enforce the law, thereby protecting land for the state of Israel in the best way possible."

Q: Are you certain you will be given the education portfolio again?

"I'm certain that I'll ask for it again. As far as I'm concerned, I've been here at the ministry for 10 years."

Q: And if you don't get it? What will you ask for?

"Anything having to do with areas of Israeli industry. To build and develop the land … Building up the country is important to me."

Q: What have you learned from the six months in politics?

"That the mission to save Habayit Hayehudi in the election was a great success, and you don't need to be popular in the media to know that you're on the right path. I learned a great lesson from politics – that to step aside isn't considered losing, and that in the end, politics is a collection of people with good intentions who work on behalf of the people of Israel."

"Ayelet, Naftali, and Bezalel [Smotrich, leader of the National Union faction] are good people who are halfway there. We have a common goal, and we will be victorious. There is a party whose four leaders call themselves the 'cockpit.' [Blue and White] They can stay in the air. We're on the ground, from the north of Israel to the south."

It pains me that the political-media discourse doesn't listen and doesn't try to understand what is said.

Q: Let's discuss the controversy over your remarks on conversion therapy.

"Everyone who heard the interview knows very well what I said. Everything I say aims to be sensitive, gentle, to bring people closer. If someone comes to us and asks for help, we'll help them, we'll refer them to a professional. That's all I said. I mean it."

"There was an attempt at a lynch, a culture of hushing up other opinions – anything that carries a whiff of tradition or conservatism. The moment the headline appeared, no one went to look at the interview, because those who watched it understood clearly that I didn't mean the terrible things that people tried to stick to me."

"I'm against these treatments, and in favor of professional counseling for youth in distress who ask for help from their teachers. It pains me that the political-media discourse doesn't listen and doesn't try to understand what is said. Only two politicians called me to clarify what I said before responding. I'm keeping their names a secret, and I admire them deeply."

Q: Labor MK Itsik Shmuli accused you of creating the atmosphere that led to a stabbing outside of an LGBTQ youth center in Tel Aviv last Friday.

"The public spots cheap populism, even during an election. It's no coincidence that the Left hasn't been in power for years. Shmuli was dancing in the blood of the victim for the sake of petty politics. That's embarrassing."

Q: What have you learned from the scandal?

"That you need to exercise caution, not to provide a trigger for public criticism over something that has nothing to do with what actually happened."

Q: Why 'nothing to do with it'? You even apologized.

"I didn't apologize, I clarified. I said I was against conversion therapies in their aggressive form. I have nothing to do with that. I explained what I said, which was how I respond if a student comes to me and seeks advice on this matter. [I approach them] with an embrace, with acceptance, with support. If I see that there is reason to refer them to a professional – I do."

High school-age kids should go hiking around the country, volunteer where they can, and not fly off for all sorts of shady entertainment.

'Protests are welcome, vandalism and violence are not'

Q: How are you finding the Education Ministry?

"It's a wonderful, exciting place. We deal mainly with building the future of the people of Israel and the state of Israel. What the next generation will look like."

Q: If we judged based on recent events in Cyprus [in which a group of Israeli teens sexually humiliated a British tourist, who made false accusations of rape], it doesn't look great.

"That was a horrifying incident that should shake up the entire country. Moral guidelines have become rotten. And it doesn't matter that they were released. This was immoral behavior that should keep parents and teachers up at night. The fact that they treated the young woman like an object is something terrible. High school-age kids should go hiking around the country, volunteer where they can, and not fly off for all sorts of shady entertainment. I don't understand why parents allow their kids to travel to places like these. It corrupts the soul. Is there any lack of other places to vacation?"

Q: How do you see the recent wave of protests by Israelis of Ethiopian descent? Racism is a matter of education, too.

"Their protest comes from a place of pain. I understand it. There truly is a need to fix the issue at its roots. I know the community up close. They are people of action, simply wonderful; people who love the country and the state and are hurt at how they're treated. In the Education Ministry, we're doing a lot to fix the situation, enormous amounts of funds are being earmarked just for that. Just this week, the cabinet approved a budget for scholarships for an extra year of high school for Ethiopian Israeli students."

Q: What is your opinion of the violence that took place during the protests?

"Protests are legitimate and welcome, rioting on cars and breaking windows is vandalism and violence. That escalates things, and I oppose that. But again, I'm stressing that today the educational gaps are closing and there is more participation [by Ethiopian Israelis] in informal educational frameworks – after-school activities, youth movements, and young leadership. That's how we'll move toward change and equality."

The post 'I had a responsibility to save the Right' appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

After all the talk about a political bang, Barak and Labor MK Stav Shafir joining up with Meretz is reminiscent of the buzz that came before the founded of the New Movement – which led to Nitzan Horowitz joining the left-wing party in the first place. A lot of noise in the media, but nearly no effect at the polls.

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Now, once again, the old Meretz guard are being forced to pay the price and stand back to allow new members to jam themselves into the top places on the list, and a few months later watch them enjoying the MKs' cafeteria while they eat at home. To Barak's credit, this time he didn't abandon his friends - he took care to ensure they would have nice jobs and tickets into the parliament before he went back to international businesses and playing the piano.

The left-wing bloc that resulted from the move has the advantage of pulling Meretz away from the brink of not passing the minimum electoral threshold. If the Right manages to close deals for two joint tickets to the Right of the Likud (New Right/United Right and Zehut/Otzma Yehudit), Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be forced to run a campaign with one hand tied behind his back to ensure that none of the right-wing parties takes a fall like they did in April. Meanwhile, at Blue and White, Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid can take votes away from the left-wing parties without fear.

So this week's election merger, even if it's not a "big bang" – or even a "little bang" – is unfortunate news for Netanyahu that will probably force him to take action to ensure that a similar bloc forms on the Right. That's exactly what didn't happen last time, when the joint right-wing ticket forced Gantz and Lapid into each other's arms to establish Blue and White as the main alternative to a Netanyahu government.

The Democratic Union ticket comes as good news for new Labor chairman Amir Peretz, though. Not only does it isolate him and his party from the strongly-identified leftist party – which will allow him to carry out his plan of trying to take votes from the Right – it also helps him put his own house in order now that Shafir, the main upstart who didn't give him a moment's peace since losing the race for party chair - left. A few hundred Labor members who think like her will probably follow her out of the party, leaving Peretz to run things without let or hinder.

Since the 21^st Knesset dissolved itself and voted on a do-over election, not a single poll has predicted that the Right will secure the necessary 61-seat majority to keep Netanyahu in power. This past week, all the parties were busy with possible joint runs and preparations ahead of next week's deadline to submit party lists. But no merger or split, on either the Left or the Right, will change the current voting map, which at the moment does not give the Right a majority.

This has nothing to do with New Right leader Ayelet Shaked or Naftali Bennett or Barak and Peretz. This won't change because of a mega-ticket on the Right or a mega-split on the Left. It has to do with one person only – Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman. Given the polls, he decides whether Netanyahu stays or goes. The eight to 10 seats he'll get (depending on the poll) will tip the scales of the 2019 Knesset Election 2.0, and the Likud has been wracking its brain about how to change the situation and take as many seats as possible away from Lieberman.

Last week, the Likud launched its Russian-language campaign, which will be large and extremely well-funded. Figures the Russian-speaking public knows and admires, like Zeev Elkin and former Yisrael Beytenu MK Robert Ilatov, will be part of it. Having concluded that Lieberman's traditional voters care less about who is prime minister and more about issues of religion and state, the Likud has decided to take on Lieberman. Most of them have no problem with Lieberman saying he'll support the biggest party. When he promises that he'll work toward a government without the haredim, that's what counts.

Which is why the Likud decided to approach this target demographic from a different angle. They want to cast Lieberman as someone who perpetuates the problems faced by new immigrants, not someone who solves them. While the Likud's main Hebrew-language campaign will ignore him almost entirely, the Russian-language campaign spots will hammer the message that while the Russian sector proved that it can integrate into Israeli life in almost every aspect of life, it still chooses to support a sectorial party, which hurts its image and social standing.

The Likud will also be arguing that Lieberman knows that if he solves the problems faced by Russian olim, especially when it comes to pensions, his party will no longer have a reason to exist, which is why he torpedoes any proposal that seeks to address the issue. Only in the latest round of negotiations, which fizzled, did the Likud agree to grant every immigrant a pension in the amount of 70% of the minimum wage at a total cost of some 2.5 billion shekels ($709 million). Lieberman is the one who refused the offer.

The Likud campaign will suggest that the Russian immigrants become party of the ruling party and take part in leading it. Top officials in the Likud's Russian campaign will attack Lieberman on the immense gap between what he says and what he does, and promise that the Likud will take care of pensions and public housing. At some point, Netanyahu will make a commitment that the immigration and absorption portfolio will stay with the Likud as a way of ensuring that immigrant issues will remain under its purview rather than being entrusted to others.

Likud officials know that Lieberman will try to drag the Likud and the haredi parties into highly-publicized spats, which is why they plan to ignore him – at least in Hebrew. Whether or not they'll manage to do so is another question.

For the past few weeks, New Right leader Ayelet Shaked was waging a bitter battle with party co-founder Naftali Bennett about the party's future. The debate wasn't about the top spot on the party list, but rather the question of which sector it would be courting in the election. Bennett was convinced that there was a large slice of the Right that was disappointed with Netanyahu that had great potential for the New Right to tap. In the last election, there were a few different options: the New Right, Moshe Kahlon, or Feiglin. This time, the New Right is the only viable option. If the party didn't run on its alone, Bennett thought, the right-wingers who were over Netanyahu might default to supporting Blue and White or Lieberman, thereby causing the Right to shrink.

Shaked wasn't convinced. She sees herself leading a large, inclusive party that has a little of everything: secularist with the national-haredim, liberals and conservatives, men and women. As long as the debate raged on, the two couldn't arrive at a way of cooperating. Last Thursday, Bennett told Shaked he thought the party should take her path.

Shaked's gambit, if it succeeds, will bring in not only the New Right, Habayit Hayehudi, and the National Union, but also Otzma Yehudit and Feiglin's Zehut party. There is room for all of them under her leadership, and she intends to negotiate with all of them for places on the list.

The main person throwing obstacles in her way is Habayit Hayehudi leader Rabbi Rafi Peretz, who would probably be forced to forgo the No. 1 spot on the list and is an outspoken opponent of Shaked's approach. Netanyahu, who sources said was working behind the scenes to scupper Shaked being given the top slot in the New Right, will have to re-think his position in light of the latest developments on the Left.

But Shaked is ready for a scenario in which the negotiations fail and the New Right runs on its own. In that case, she say, she has a few interesting, even surprising,  candidates for the list. For now, she's refusing to name names.

The post Can the Right do the right thing? appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

However, there was also good news for the right-wing parties: according to the poll, all of them – with the exception of Moshe Feiglin's Zehut party – are expected to make it past the minimum electoral threshold of 3.25%.

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The poll, conducted among a representative sample of 507 adult Israelis with a margin of error of 4.3%, also indicated that whether the parties to the Right of the Likud or the parties on the Left manage to join forces and run as a "mega-bloc," Lieberman will remain in a position to tip the scales.

Netanyahu's Likud party was predicted to win 31 seats, with the center-left Blue and White party close on its heels at 30 seats. Labor, under newly elected leader and veteran legislator Amir Peretz, was predicted to win eight seats, with the same number predicted for the United Right.

United Torah Judaism was predicted to win seven seats – the same number projected for the secularist Lieberman. Six seats were predicted for both Shas and Meretz, under new party leader Nitzan Horowitz.

Four seats each were predicted for former prime minister, defense minister, and IDF chief of staff Ehud Barak's new party and for the New Right under former Education Minister Naftali Bennett.

The poll predicted nine seats for the Joint Arab List.

When asked who they thought was best qualified to serve as prime minister, 35% of respondents picked Netanyahu. Less than one-quarter (22%) of respondents picked Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, and 12% said Barak was the best candidate for prime minister.

The poll also looked into the viability of various joint lists and party mergers. According to the results, if Labor MK Itzik Shmuli or Stav Shafir had been elected head of Labor and as a result, Labor had run on a joint list with Barak's party and Meretz, the resulting left-wing list would have won 19 seats. However, that appears unlikely to happen with Peretz as Labor leader. If that scenario had come to pass, the left-wing list would have chipped away at Blue and White, leaving Gantz's party with only 26 seats.

On the other side of the political map, if Habayit Hayehudi, the National Union, Otzma Yehudit, the New Right, and Zehut were to run together, the resulting right-wing list would scoop up no less than 19 seats, the poll showed. In that case, the list would take some seats away from the Likud, leaving Netanyahu's party with 25 seats, and the right-wing bloc would still be unable to form a coalition without Lieberman.

The post Poll: 'Mega-right' bloc would win 19 seats, Lieberman will decide appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.