Minister Aharonovich
Minister AharonovichIsrael news photo: Flash 90

Yisrael Beytenu does not plan to walk out of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's coalition, but it does intend to do everything it can to differentiate itself from the Likud, Public Security Minister Yitzchak Aharonovich said Monday.

In an interview with Channel 10, Aharonovich said that the party was preparing for the future – as in future elections that may develop.

“The union with the Likud has blurred the lines between our two parties,” Aharonovich said.

“Without us, it is likely that Netanyahu would not be Prime Minister today. Only the fact that the two parties ran together gave him enough mandates to form a government. But out MKs and ministers, as well as our members, would like to break off this arrangement and strengthen our own position as a separate party. I believe that running separately will give us more mandates,” he said.

Aharonovich does not believe that new elections are in the offing, despite the developments of recent days, in which Naftali Bennett has said that he would pull his Jewish Home party out of the government if Israeli Arab terrorists are released as part of a prisoner release.

“If Bennett does not like what the government is doing, then he should quit. We do not need these kinds of threats," he said. 

“I believe we should follow through on the plan being proposed by US Secretary of State John Kerry,” Aharonovich added. “We should at least try to reach a two-state solution. But this is really up to the Palestinians.”