Netanyahu aims for Bennett in last electoral effort

Netanyahu aims for Bennett in last electoral effort

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again targeted Yamina leader Naftali Bennett in the final days of an election campaign, a pattern that has been repeated in every election in the past decade.

Netanyahu challenged Bennett in a campaign video released on Thursday to pledge not to join a government with leader Yesh Atid Yair Lapid or a rotation for prime minister.

“For three days you have been avoiding this because you want to be prime minister with eight or ten seats,” said Netanyahu. “With me, it won’t be. There will be no rotation for prime minister. Our economy does not allow this. “

Netanyahu postulated that, because Bennett wants to be prime minister, he is willing to join a government with Yesh Atid, New Hope, Yisrael Beytenu, Labor and Meretz.

“The State of Israel must not go in that direction,” he warned. “What our economy needs, what our country needs right now, is a strong and stable right-wing government that will drive our economy higher and higher … Vote [Likud] and you will have Bennett as a respectable minister in our government. Vote for Bennett and you will have him as Minister of the Lapid government. “

Netanyahu broadcast similar messages in radio interviews and campaign events throughout the week. Yamina had a 10-11 vote in polls released on Sunday and Tuesday, but a poll conducted for news site N12 and released on Thursday put the party in nine seats.

Likud has targeted Bennett in the final stretch of each election in the past decade, since Bennett first ran for office, in a practice that has come to be referred to by experts as “drinking votes through a straw”. The parties that Bennett led consistently outperformed the final election result than in the polls, to the point that his former New Right party did not cross the electoral threshold in early 2019.

Transport Minister Miri Regev, who has taken a van across the country and broadcast live videos on social media, used one of the videos to display a letter pledging not to join a government led by Lapid, and showed herself taking a picture of him and send it to Bennett in the Whatsapp messaging app.

Bennett replied to her with a message on Whatsapp: “Miri – I was hoping you were announcing your resignation because of the failure of the [COVID-19] mutations [entering Israel through] Ben-Gurion Airport.

“PS Tell me, there is a time when you really care about people and are not involved in politics. For God’s sake, people are collapsing here,” added Bennett.

Regev replied, “Bennett, stop avoiding. I understand that it is difficult for you to divorce Lapid, but the answer is simple: are you signing or not?

“You will continue to be Lapid’s electoral contractor and field agent, or pledge to support and sit in a right-wing government led by Benjamin Netanyahu,” she wrote.

Spokesmen for Bennett and Regev sent the media screen shots of their text chat.

Earlier this week, Bennett joked in response to Netanyahu’s demand that “hearing Netanyahu’s word ‘commitment’ is like … pressing ‘I’m not the driver’ on Waze.”

Also on Thursday, Likud threatened to sue public broadcaster Kan for failing to broadcast an interview that Netanyahu gave to his Arab station.

Kan also refused to interview Netanyahu on his Russian radio station, Likud said. The campaign accused the public broadcaster of using its refusal to try to convince Netanyahu to go to the 8 pm television news.

“This is outrageous and political behavior by the administration of the broadcasting company financed by Israeli citizens,” said the campaign.

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