MK Yifat Shasha-Biton, no. 2 in the New Hope Party, made clear in an interview with Channel 12 News on Thursday that the members of her party will not rely on the predominantly Arab Joint List in order to form an alternative government not headed by Binyamin Netanyahu.
"We are currently targeting a center-right government that will be composed of Zionist parties, that is what we are doing today for the State of Israel. We will not break any of our election promises. We will keep everything we committed to," she stressed.
"We will do whatever it takes to bring about a government of change. We are trying to target a government with Zionist parties that believe in the principle of a Jewish and democratic state. We will make the effort to form a government of change and prevent a fifth election. If we fail to do so, we will sit in the opposition," said Shasha-Biton.
She revealed that, in recent days, a number of associates of Netanyahu have reached out to her - in an attempt to convince her and members of her party to support a government headed by him.
"It is no secret that there is very intense pressure for us to enter a Likud-led government, and on me personally. All those close to him and people around Netanyahu entourage have made proposals in recent days," said Shasha-Biton.
"I was personally approached as have the other members of New Hope, but it will not happen," she clarified. "They offered me the education ministry and in general made far-reaching offers to all the members of the party, but that will not happen, so they shouldn’t waste their time making the calls. We are a very cohesive group behind Gideon Sa’ar, who explicitly said we will not sit under Netanyahu. Unequivocally, there will be no defectors, we have come to make a change and we are committed to our voters."
Asked who New Hope will recommend to the President to form the next government, Shasha-Biton replied, "We will wait and see who we should recommend. The simplest solution is that Netanyahu, who has failed to reach 61 seats after four elections, will step aside and let others do the job."