Yisrael Katz
Yisrael KatzJonathan Sindel, Flash 90

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) announced that he would contend for the party leadership but would only do so after Prime Minister Netanyahu decided to resign from politics.

"I said that I would contend after the Netanyahu era, I did not mean during the period when Netanyahu was being interrogated and I will not run against him," said Katz in a Kol Yisrael interview. "When this happens I hope to win in person and not in the polls. The polls have no significance at present since 'the king is still on his throne'."

Katz referred to Netanyahu's promise to establish a new town for Amona evacuees. "If a commitment was made to establish a new town for Amona evacuees it must be upheld and I'm convinced that the Prime Minister will keep his word. We need to allow for construction in existing towns without reference to the 'settlement blocs'. This will allow for the construction of at least 100,000 new units. We must conclude the matter with the new administration and remove the matter from our agenda and focus on more important things like Iran and the regional threats.

Katz said that "continued construction is the most urgent matter and Iran is the most important matter. We want the US with all of its power to maintain a dialogue with Russia, Iran, and Syria in order to prevent a nuclear threat and acts of terror towards us.

With reference to the Elor Azariya sentence, Katz said he respects the military judiciary but said that Azariya was sent by his country and if he erred he did it as the country's agent and therefore the country was responsible for him and for his family.

Katz stated that he is a graduate of the Religious Zionist yeshiva headed by Rabbi Druckman and is "deep inside Jewish tradition." He said he did not like involving Jewish tradition in politics, as occurred recently regarding railway work conducted on Shabbat. "I said that I would not make political capital from a holy symbol such as the Shabbat. The Shabbat is a Jewish value which we gave the world - a day of rest. I'm sorry that it was mixed into political issues."

Katz said that for a long time he was described as "the sixth MK of UTJ" due to "the positions I took as soon as I reached the Knesset...regarding religious and haredi education and regarding construction and the preservation of what kept Judaism and the Jewish nation alive over the course of history. This is what preserved us while empires were falling."

Katz added that "the Chinese respect us more than we respect ourselves. My goal in political life is to preserve the eternal nature of the Jewish nation."