Jonathan Baranski
Jonathan BaranskiYoni Kempiski

The Jewish Home party primaries will be held shortly after Passover next month.

Party chairman and Education Minister Naftali Bennett is expected to be challenged by a number of rivals, including Col. (res.) Jonathan Baranski, a resident of Eli and former commander of the IDF's Gaza Division.

Baranski spoke with Arutz Sheva about the party's conduct in recent years, and about his belief that the party has abandoned its values as a result of the 'dictatorial' policies of its leader.

Baranski stated that his decision to enter politics followed the conclusion of his 25 year service in the military, when he was forced to deal with political issues that he had been able to avoid during his service. "The National Religious party, which has traditionally kept the values of religious Zionism for years, has lost its values," he said.

He has heard many explanations for the actions of the party's leadership, such as "practicality," in order to remain in the government. However, he believes that the party is about "ideology, not pragmatism."

"When Bennett arrived there was a sense of freshness, and I was happy about it. But it turned out that he was doing it as a springboard for his personal affairs. He is disconnected from the public which elected him and from the values of the party, turning it into a discount Likud," Baranski said.

According to Baranski, the voters in the Jewish Home party primaries must choose whether they wish to continue to "blur the [party's] values, or to take care of all of of the people of Israel out of religious Zionism, the role of which is to determine the character of the state."

Baranski believes that increasing the number of seats the party has in the Knesset is worthless if the party abandons its core values, and that his positions would attract more voters than the 'practical' positions of the current party leadership.

"The majority of Israelis are religious or traditional, with a connection to [Jewish] tradition and culture. While today's media makes it hard to see, it is through an illusion that a small minority sets the agenda and the scale of public values. But most of the people are connected to tradition and [traditional] values. I believe that our values connect and join [those of others], and they have the potential to bring huge numbers of voters [to us]."

When asked whether prominent MKs like Bezalel Smotrich, Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan, and Moti Yogev would have let the party lose its way, he answered that he believes that such personalities maintain the spirit and values of the party, but that at the end of the day "it does not matter what this or that MK says. There is dictatorial conduct. The party has lost ground. There is no room for an MK to speak if he is opposed to the chairman. It is a one-man management."

"A party like Jewish Home should include all shades of religious Zionism, from the liberals to the more hard-line," he said, adding: "Today the party is the last one that deals with issues of religion and state. To who are we leaving the fight in these matters? To the secular and the haredim. It is unthinkable."