Former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, chairwoman of the Yamina party, is concerned about the threats to the size of the right-wing bloc.
Moshe Feiglin's Zehut party has quit the race, but as far as Shaked is concerned, there is another obstacle: the Otzma Yehudit party.
"It's a script that repeats itself. If Otzma Yehudit runs - there will be no right-wing government," she warned in an interview with journalist Amnon Lord in the Israel Hayom newspaper which will be published in full on Friday.
Shaked expressed confidence that Netanyahu will head the next government, saying, "I would like to continue in the Justice Ministry. I started doing important work there but I do not rule out other ministries either.”
"The Finance Ministry is very important for the coming years. Whoever goes there will have a lot of work to do. I am not envious of the minister who will have to clean up all the trouble that was left there, but I am ready for this task."
Shaked criticized the campaigns of Yair Lapid and Avigdor Liberman which are based on incitement against the haredim. "My approach is the opposite of Liberman's and Lapid’s approach. As someone who is not religious and currently heads a bloc of religious parties, and is in very good contact with the haredim, I am a big believer in the integration of the haredim in Israeli society."
Shaked said she doesn't see a scenario in which Yamina will join a government led by Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz. "It's a scenario that just won't happen, for a number of reasons. First and foremost, Netanyahu will get the mandate to form the government. I am not the only one saying this, the Likud is saying it as well. The question is what kind of government this will be and who it will start with.”
“If we aren’t large, we won't be significant either and we won't be able to implement our values and policies. We will receive junior ministerial portfolios and he will partner with Amir Peretz. The desire to sit with Peretz and Levy is very visible,” added Shaked.
She explained why a left-wing party should not be integrated into the coalition, as Netanyahu has done in the past. "When there is a homogenous government, more things can be done. Every faction in the coalition has a certain right to a veto. If, for example, Peretz is in the government – he has a completely socialist approach. He wants to raise the minimum wage dramatically, raise taxes significantly – just the opposite of what we believe in, and it's difficult to function that way."