I will do everything to replace Netanyahu, including not being prime minister

Less than 48 hours before the polls open, the party leaders arrive this morning (Sunday) to flash live interviews at the Ynet studio. Opposition leader Yair Lapid, who chose to avoid media interviews, will break the silence on the special broadcaster. New Tikva chairman Gideon Saar and Meretz chairman Nitzan Horowitz also attended the special broadcast – and Finance Minister Israel Katz represented the Likud party.

Lapid refused to reveal who he wanted to join the coalition led by him. “There is a bloc of Netanyahu and there is a bloc of change. In the bloc of change, they are fighting for the 61st mandate. Netanyahu’s whole campaign was to hide the government here: Smutrich, Deri, Litzman and Ben Gvir. A bloated, racist, homophobic and extortionate government will take over. The money of the people who work and the people who do not work – and all this drains into the 61st mandate. “

Chairman Yesh Atid continues to insist and is unwilling to declare he is running for prime minister. “There was an attempt by Netanyahu to turn this into a head – to – head struggle. What there really is is government versus government. Netanyahu had a goal: to hide the only government here. Everything he calls ‘full-full right’ is not right, half of the cruises are non-Zionist. It’s a dark government, there is no more subtle expression than that, and he tried to hide it. “

Is this the moment when she says I’m a torch candidate for prime minister?
“I am the head of the opposition, I am the head of the second largest party and the second in the candidacy for prime minister according to all the polls. There are two blocs here: a bloc to replace Netanyahu and a bloc I do not know how to define, anti-democrats that will destroy the Israeli economy.”

Although Netanyahu conditioned the confrontation with Lapid on announcing his candidacy for prime minister, Lapid claimed that this was an excuse. “He is afraid of confrontation, he is afraid and ran away. Netanyahu will not tell me what to say, he wants to go to confrontation on the condition that he will tell me what to say? I am not told what to say, certainly not he. To escape confrontation he knew, he is not able to sit in front of me when I ask How does he explain that there are more than 6,000 dead here from Corona and in Cyprus 248. How do you explain that in the middle of a crisis you went to the Finance Committee to get tax benefits, and how do you explain that the only government you have is a dark anti-democratic government? “

Will you not sit with Netanyahu in any constellation? Not of rotation or agreement?
“The answer is yes, and I am exempt from proving. I could sit here as a minister. Anyone can sell themselves excuses, I do not sit with Netanyahu. Let him go and mess with his law instead of making our lives bitter. In the last two years, and we can be trusted that what we say will be. “

Does that mean you can count on giving up your ego if Bennett and Saar stand in front of you?
“I will do whatever it takes to replace Netanyahu.”

Including not being prime minister?
“What is important is that we replace Netanyahu, and it has never been so close. In the end it is measured in blocs, if there is a great future, there is no need to bet on numbers. It is possible to form a government with the right values.”

Will you do everything, including the possibility that there will be no prime minister in the bloc to replace Netanyahu? Will you swallow your ego?
“Yes, definitely. The main thing is to bring change and hope. What is needed to have a future will grow a little.”

A statement that you would not mind relying on the joint list. If you have to embark on a daring operation, how will you do it? “It’s alright. I am a security hawk and I have always been a security hawk. There is nothing related to Israel’s security that has not been done. We will not be bound to anyone in Israeli security matters. “

Will you still have to rely on the list?
“I do not deal with coalition calculations three days before an election. It is not serious.”

Lapid was asked what changed in his position, having previously said that relying on the joint list is “madness”, saying that “we need to generate 61 seats for change here, and to generate 61 seats for change you need everyone you can to work. That’s right for me, right. It is stormy and true of Bennett. “

And the ultra-Orthodox too? “I never disqualified the ultra-Orthodox. I’m just saying that every child in the State of Israel needs a civil marriage and math and English studies. We want a recruitment law and that the budget distributions will be fair to all residents of Israel. “

Lieberman sculpted them, in this sudoku he fired them
“It’s not sudoku, it’s a real thing,” Lapid said. “You know that, the day after the election the atmosphere is different. Let’s wait and see what the results will be.”

Saar says he knows how to bring Bennett, and on the day of the dissolution of the Knesset, you almost brought a brotherhood and talked, according to rumors, a lot about the votes in the Knesset, does this relationship continue? Are there contacts between you and other parties?
“All the time. It’s part of the political work. I talk to the whole political space, because that’s what the head of the opposition does. That’s what those who build a big bloc do to replace the government.”

Lapid said he was not boycotted by other parties, claiming it was “campaign talk,” as he put it. “Political history in Israel proves that these things should be taken with a limited guarantee. The campaign will end – everyone will sit and talk,” the opposition chairman said, insisting that the Netanyahu replacement camp was “on the scales”. If the center-left party is large enough, one can unite. “We will do whatever it takes, every effort and every possible connection, to replace Netanyahu,” he said.

The chairman of Tikva Hadasha, who was the first to be interviewed, was asked how it could be that at the beginning he aspired to 20 seats, and the situation is not close to that now. “We opened the prospect of change for Israeli citizens,” Saar claimed. Were known in advance. Another Netanyahu term. “Now all the voters who want change need to know one thing – if you vote for those parties, Netanyahu will stay again.”

According to him, Lapid and Ganz are an example of this. “I will bring Bennett if I have the power, and together we will bring a center-right change government to replace Netanyahu,” Saar noted. “What is important at the moment is to understand that Netanyahu is building a coalition with the ultra-Orthodox, Smutrich and Bennett. The important thing is whether there will be an extremist government or a change government that works for the citizens.”

PM says it’s either he or a fifth election “But he says one thing and vice versa. In the commercials he says that if Saar and Bennett are strong then they will go with others and there will be another government. So apparently he is still a little apprehensive, despite the victory celebrations that have already been shown in all the studios. “

How do you explain that the Likudniks did not flock to you, could it be that all the polls are wrong? “We have seen that the trend is starting to change in general and we are rising again. What is important is to get up to the decisive moment which is on Tuesday. After all, when did the despair begin? As power relations began to change in favor of parties that did not know how to form a government and a coalition. When we were a little stronger there was no question how he would put together, everyone knew I would put together. That is why I draw the outline of the change – right with center. I have to be strong enough, I bring everyone together. “

What is your attitude to Meretz?
“this A party that has expressed very extreme views. If she passes the blocking percentage and she wants to be a partner, she will have to straighten out. I’m not busy with disqualifications. I am busy forming a coalition for change. I know how to bring Bennett and join the center parties. “

Katz claimed that there were three things that would lead to the Likud’s victory. “Netanyahu’s leadership advantage, the vaccines and the economic safety net. In general, due to the action, in front of the other candidates and the two important things, it is the vaccines, and the economic safety net. “

But still the responsibility for the fourth election is on you and the prime minister, who refused to pass a budget.

“Do you know how many times I tried to persuade Ganz? I told him, ‘Leave, let’s represent the 2020 budget, we’ll move on to 2021. That’s how it works in politics, but he insisted.”

You are responsible for not transferring a budget.
“I could not move a budget.”

Because the prime minister did not give you.
“No, because Benny Gantz did not give. He wanted the rotation and wanted a biennial budget.”

You committed to an agreement, you asked for a biennial budget.
“In the end, I was able to transfer in a sophisticated and decisive way the budgets that continue for 2021, and I transferred the Corona budget in an impossible way. Therefore, the unemployed in the Knesset and the self-employed receive money.”

According to Katz, everyone is to blame for the agreement signed between the Likud and Blue and White. “There was an agreement from Chukamak that should not have been signed. In retrospect, he simply paralyzed Israel,” said the finance minister. “Everyone thought they were bringing a good thing, even Ganz who thought he would be the deputy prime minister. Everyone thought it would work, and it did not work.”

Meretz’s chairman, who is struggling with the blocking percentage, claims that his party is still “the most relevant there is.” He said, “Meretz is talking about the most difficult and painful things that all the other parties are running away from. “If there is no Meretz, we may wake up on Wednesday morning to a Likud nightmare government with Ben Gvir and Smutrich that will take us to the Middle Ages.”

Horowitz claimed that according to the polls, Netanyahu did not have 61 recommenders and called on those who were undecided to vote for him. “Less voice or more voice to have a future will not go up or down. They are in good shape, but it may hurt Meretz, and no Labor Party or bad future does not want that to happen,” he said. “I want our people to vote like the ultra-Orthodox, like the settlers, with 90% participation.”

Despite the struggle with the Labor Party over the electorate, Horowitz refused to attack Merav Michaeli’s party. “The Labor Party is important, but I say – not at the expense of Meretz. We will cooperate after the election. I mention that we were together in the last round, and it did not go well because Labor lied and went to government with Bibi.”

Speaking of your voice, Saar said he has no problem being with you if you straighten up.
“It all depends on the basic guidelines of the government. Meretz has its principles and it is a party with iron principles. Our voters know – we are an honest and credible party. If there is a government that concentrates on the economic emergency, transfers budget and returns one million unemployed – it will be possible to form a government.” However, Horowitz stressed that such a government would not be established with the support of Meretz if it supported annexation, racism and religious coercion.

How far would you be willing to go to replace Netanyahu’s regime? To sit with Gafni and Litzman?

“No, I think that partnership with the ultra-Orthodox parties is a harmful thing in Israeli politics. I think it is possible to form a secular government. It is possible to form a secular government and leave the ultra-Orthodox parties out once.”

And the entire ultra-Orthodox public?
“Why the ultra-Orthodox public? I also care about the ultra-Orthodox public, I also care about the right-wing public, even though I am a leftist. I care about everyone.”

Will you transfer money to ultra-Orthodox educational institutions?
“Everyone will receive equally. What is happening now is that they receive much more because of their political power and blackmail. We are given a budget, and we will demand the education portfolio and an equal budget for all Israeli children: Jews, secular, ultra-Orthodox and Arabs.”

Horowitz said that “the business is very close, it can be cut by hundreds of votes and it depends on each and every one. Once Meretz is there and its place is secured – we will consider each scenario according to the guidelines. We do not rule out Lieberman or anyone else, but I just do not see any possibility “They have common ground with the ultra-Orthodox parties. They want religious coercion and do not see someone like me as equal. I respect them, they do not respect me and I do not think there is a common denominator here.”