Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett
Jewish Home party leader Naftali BennettTomer Neuberg/Flash 90

Former finance minister and Yesh Atid chair Yair Lapid blocked Jewish Home from achieving several goals during the 19th Knesset - and then stole them for his own platform, party chairman Naftali Bennett stated in a Walla! News interview Monday.

"Lapid put the brakes on many important initiatives," Bennett stated. "We demanded an increase in salaries for IDF soldiers; he stopped it and now declared it as his own idea. Yair Lapid promised to provide more ambulances for the elderly; he stopped it and now claims he supported it. We demanded unemployment benefits for the self-employed; he vetoed it and now promises it." 

"It's not serious to take all your failures and present them like this to the public," he added. 

Bennett also answered a series of questions on current issues, such as peace talks and the potential for a unity government between Likud and Labor. 

Bennett maintained that he does not believe Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on the latter's declarations against land withdrawals and concessions to the Palestinian Authority (PA). 

"If you engage in negotiations with the Palestinians for that long, what is it that you're saying?" he asked. "Are you speaking about how the coffee tastes?" 

"[No,] they're talking through '67 lines, land swaps - this is well-known, and the only party saying 'we will not give away an inch of land' is my party." 

Bennett added that Likud has reneged on a number of areas in Israel, including giving away Gaza during the 2005 Disengagement and, decades ago, the Sinai. 

When asked why Bennett would then rather align himself with Netanyahu over Labor-Hatnua, he noted that it is simply a matter of "pragmatism." 

"Politics is the art of pragmatism in light of the values ​​you believe in," Bennett stated. "It is clear that Netanyahu is better than [Hatnua leader Tzipi] Livni."

Bennett also noted that he repeatedly rejects Livni as a prime ministerial candidate because she was "an architect of the Disengagement," leading to several skirmishes with Gaza and lives lost. 

"She never apologized for this blunder, even though Operation Protective Edge in Gaza happened because of the Disengagement," he said. 

Moreover, "if it only takes fifty days to take care of all of the Gaza terror tunnels, there's something wrong with how it's perceived," he added. 

Luckily, he maintained, even if Labor wins, "[Labor leader Yitzhak] Herzog will not be able to form a government. Netanyahu will be the next prime minister." 

Bennett emphasized that only a strong Jewish Home not only would guarantee a stable right-wing government, but also a possible chance for him to become Defense Minister.