Naftali Bennett, Uri Ariel
Naftali Bennett, Uri ArielMiriam Alster/Flash 90

After joining his National Union party's Tekuma faction with Jewish Home's Knesset list in the last elections, Building Minister Uri Ariel has not so subtly criticized Jewish Home Chairman Naftali Bennett of "selling out" values for mandates.

In a meeting with around 60 heads of Torah seed group communities from around the country in Ramle together with Tekuma director general Ofir Soffer, Ariel discussed the negotiations between his group and Jewish Home after Bennett presented a unity deal last week to join Tekuma to his party.

"We have to clearly define what are our principles that we won't give up on," said Ariel. "I'm in favor of growing and being a large party that will lead the state but the question is what's the price."

Ariel continued "does the goal sanctify the means? Is the goal to be big whatever the cost, even at the cost of conceding on our principles? The answer for me is a decisive no."

The criticism comes after Jewish Home made a controversial move to more actively target secular and Druze constituencies in what some warn is an abandoning of religious Zionist values.

The minister leveled sharp criticism at Bennett's party, saying "Jewish Home has a desire to go to the (political) center, and less so to be strong on issues of religion and state, and we think that even if that adds mandates there's a limit to that. You don't have to compromise to achieve more mandates. It cannot be that we won't have red lines."

Reserved seats? Or political spin?

One of the key points of the unity deal Bennett presented, which raised ire among the secular branch of Jewish Home, was that it would give the Tekuma chairperson - namely Ariel - a reserved spot as number two on the party's Knesset list.

"It's more than corrupt to say that they're reserving the number two spot for someone," Ariel said critically. "Doing so is to blind people. They're just handing out promises. No one wants it and no one asked for it."

Indicating a potential rejection of the unity deal, at least in its proposed form, Ariel added "Jewish Home will choose its representatives however it wants. And the National Union will choose its representatives in its way."

The talk of reserved seats comes as Jewish Home sources claimed on Monday that Tekuma representatives demanded in unity talks that the faction be guaranteed six of the first 15 spots on the combined Knesset list.

In response Tekuma denounced the claims, saying "we suggest not letting yourself be held captive by false and hollow leaks. The National Union is holding negotiations cleanly and will not be dragged into the ugly slander game."

"They're trying to make us be forgotten"

Jewish Home is set to hold primaries likely sometime in the coming month, something which Ariel also criticized noting "primaries are a corrupt thing. It's a corrupt process where everyone has to praise themselves and in parallel explain why the rest aren't as good. ...Today more than half of the parties in the Knesset don't use primaries, and it really isn't a sanctified process."

Speaking on unity with Jewish Home, he added "there are those who want to stretch out the time and not really reach unity. There's an intentional stretching out of time. That's not conjecture, I say it from information."

"They say let's drag out time and then the public won't remember what the National Union is. Currently the Jewish Home isn't standing by agreements with us. That's not a mistake. It's a tactic," charged Ariel.

While saying unity is his goal, Ariel warned "we are preparing to stand on our own. We are a party that wants to live and we have a clear ideology that you all know. So that the unity will succeed the National Union needs to be strong and we will make sure it is."