Motti Yogev
Motti YogevEsti Desiubov/TPS

MK Motti Yogev (Jewish Home) toured the Negev on Thursday as part of his activities to expand settlement in southern Israel.

Speaking to Arutz Sheva, he talked about the efforts to bring more and more families to live in the area, discussed the efforts to form a government and also touched on the uproar around Dr. Mordechai Kedar’s speech during a rally in support of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

"I arrived today for a tour of the Negev and the cities of Dimona, Arad and Yeruham. The Negev continues to call on us, the Israeli public, to settle the Negev but also the Galilee and Judea and Samaria," said Yogev.

“The key to the settlement of the land on all its territories is also the continuation of Aliyah absorption. Today I sat with the Bnei Akiva nucleus in Arad, we connect with the Jewish Agency and Nefesh B’Nefesh to encourage more and more families of olim to come to Arad. Bnei Akiva in Arad has grown in the last four years from two families to fifty families and can serve as a cushion of support for the absorption of families and the settlement of the Negev."

"Religious Zionism, as a large movement, touches everything. The people of Yeruham and Dimona have built huge factories such as Garin Torani, yeshivas and ulpanot, and the question is how we as a political body help them. I am here to help, and not for the first time, together with my friend Sar-Shalom Jerbi, with the settlement of the Negev."

What is your opinion of the meeting between Blue and White and the Joint List?

"I do not believe in a narrow government based on support from the Arab parties. Such a move cannot produce stability and we know that the problems of the State of Israel are mainly security-related. We are a Jewish and democratic state and therefore it is best to invest all our efforts in creating a national unity government based on the right-wing bloc and on Blue and White. And I do not rule out any party within the Zionist space and this is our duty, reflecting the results of the elections."

Will the right-wing bloc will stay united?

"Do you see Naftali Bennett, a Zionist, entering a government supported by the Arabs and building himself as a national leader that way? This is a rhetorical question. I do not see Liberman nor the haredi factions supporting this, and therefore I say that all the energy should be invested in a broad national unity government and that will probably happen during a period of three weeks."

Do you agree with most political pundits who forecast that we will have a third election?

"A third election will not likely be good for the parties and some of the parties will even disappear.”

"As someone who deals with social issues, I am aware of how processes have been harmed and budgets do not go to special schools, hostels for at-risk girls, distressed youth, social nuclei, and, of course, to the health system - the entire state is on hiatus and this is irresponsible and needs to stop. I support the president’s outline.”

What did you think of Dr. Mordechai Kedar’s conspiracy speech?

"My friend Dr. Moti Kedar is a very smart man and his ideas are innovative, but I would not, however, bring up the very painful issue of Yitzhak Rabin's murder, which also has a certain covert layer, but this is a symbol of the murder of a leader – the Israeli Prime Minister.”

"This is a very serious act. It took years for religious Zionist society to recover from being accused of Rabin's murder, and painful wounds should not be opened and we should all know to unite around statesmanlike issues. I don't think Bar-Ilan University needed to panic and summon him to a disciplinary committee and fire him."

Do you think the prosecutor's office is persecuting the prime minister and his people?

"The attack on the prime minister and his spokespersons doesn’t smell good. There are three partners in this – the media, the prosecutor's office and the police, it harms them first and foremost, when things are out of balance and there is harsh criticism and a feeling that a political revolution is taking place and not through elections but through a world of prosecutors who refuse to receive criticism, as well as the police and the media, it hurts them first and foremost.”

"Everyone is innocent until proven otherwise. I propose to the three bodies to tone some of the criticism down and balance things out.”