Anger on the right over the Likud’s deputy minister’s contacts with the Palestinians: “Netanyahu has no red lines”

“Netanyahu’s attempt to get PLO members to intervene in the Israeli elections is a new low,” said MK Tikva chairman MK Gideon Saar. “Netanyahu has no red lines. Time and time again he proves that he has only personal interests that outweigh the national interest. He is no longer qualified to serve as Israeli prime minister. “

MK Yoaz Handel also joined the critique in New Hope. “Unbelievable,” Handel tweeted. “Instead of returning governance and security to Israeli residents inside the house, Netanyahu is recruiting prosecutors in The Hague to persuade Israeli Arabs to campaign.”

MK Ayelet Shaked, number 2 on the right, attached to her Twitter page the article published on the subject and noted: “Ideological bankruptcy of the Likud.”

MK Matan Kahana on the right also responded. “The alleged secret deal revealed this morning between Bibi and Abu Mazen is one step too far for the Likud to go,” Kahana said. “After last week the Likud trained the terrorists and terrorists from Balad and Ra’am, now It was revealed that the Likud is in an election tin with Abu Mazen? The Likud lost the brakes. sad”.

Itamar Ben Gvir, number 3 on the list of religious Zionists in the Knesset, said in the Ynet studio, referring to the publication on the subject: “If this is really true – shame and disgrace. I asked to disqualify Mansour Abbas, for example. The Likud may not like it, “Very simple – he supports terrorists, terrorism, the right of return – not at school.”

You say “shame and disgrace”, but you also want Netanyahu to be elected prime minister.

“If you go to officials in the Palestinian Authority, which is a terrorist authority that calls squares after terrorists, that gives money and salaries to those who murdered a Jew, is it normal to ask for support from them? If that is true, it is very serious. There will be such stories. ”

Homeland Security Minister Amir Ohana of the Likud refuted the allegations against his party. In an interview with the Ynet studio, Ohana said that “it is quite clear to me what our enemies, both in the Palestinian Authority and elsewhere, would like – and this is not Netanyahu as prime minister.

– Gideon Saar says that this is a new low.

“I do not know how to address something I have not examined, I am just telling you my opinion. My opinion is that we will win this election, not because of the Palestinian Authority but because of the citizens of Israel who see the tremendous achievements of this government and want Netanyahu to continue.”

– Is there no double standard here? We see your attitude to number 7 in the work Abtissam Maraana, and on the other hand a kind of embrace to these factors.

“There is no embrace for these factors. In the Palestinian Authority there are mostly enemies, I do not want their support or help, they do not vote in the State of Israel anyway so there is no interest here. You are talking about Israeli citizens, the matter is different. There is growing recognition that there is an opportunity to do For their sake, for the eradication of crime, for the sake of reducing the gaps. ”

– And they understand that? Is it possible to bring Israeli Arabs to the Likud?

“I think so, more than ever. In this election we will get more votes from Arab society than we have ever received before. I see this as a blessed thing because most of them are law-abiding people who want a better life and a better future.”

– You say “most of them are law-abiding citizens”, but a few years ago most of them were law-abiding citizens who “flocked to the buses to the polls”. “First of all, the traditional voting patterns of Israeli Arabs are on the joint list. That is how it was and when it did, we certainly warned – we called on our voters and voters to go to the polls. Now I see a change in this matter. Arab society sees Netanyahu’s considerable efforts in 2016 as unanswered. “A precedent of investing many billions in Arab society. This is reflected in the establishment of new police stations. I hear from Arab society people who say, ‘Thank you, we are finally seeing real activity for us.’

Palestinian sources in Ramallah, who objected to the move attributed to Deputy Minister Mula, told Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth that the Palestinian Authority had conducted secret talks with the Likud in recent weeks regarding supporting Prime Minister Netanyahu through activities with Israeli Arabs and encouraging them to support the Likud, or at least not support the list. The common. These contacts have not matured and have recently stalled, apparently due to technical reasons.

The Likud will be represented in these contacts by Deputy Minister Mula. The Palestinian side was represented by officials in the PLO committee responsible for relations with Israeli society, headed by a member of the Fatah leadership and an associate of Abu Mazen, Muhammad al-Madani.

According to one source, the climax of the talks was supposed to take place in a frontal meeting between the parties in Ramallah following an invitation from the Palestinian side. However, the meeting did not take place in the end because it was not approved by the Israeli side, apparently due to security reasons for entering Ramallah. The source stated that the Palestinian side was offended by the non-receipt of the invitation and has since lowered a profile in contacts to the point of freezing them.

According to the same sources, after the announcement of the fourth election, the Palestinian Authority analyzed the Israeli political system and understood that the battle for power would be between a right-wing and a hawkish right. According to their analysis, Netanyahu is considered politically moderate in relation to Naftali Bennett and Gideon Saar.

The Palestinian fear is that choosing one of the two will increase the chances of unilateral moves in Judea and Samaria such as partial annexation and expansion of settlements. It should be noted that in recent months, relations between Ramallah and the joint list have cooled.

Deputy Minister Mula said that such talks did take place, but defined them as “all kinds of talk about low fire. We are trying to do good to the people of Israel and the Middle East. I can not elaborate beyond that.

The Likud responded: “Absolute nonsense. Everyone knows that the Palestinian Authority prefers Lapid as prime minister instead of Netanyahu, who brought the safest security year to the state.”