Ahead of a Knesset Committee discussion on whether to declare MK Amichai Chikli a "defector" from his Yamina party, Chikli told Israel Hayom that if he is declared a defector, he "will lead a new party - or join it."
Chikli explained, "The big question is, 'What is a party, and what does it mean?' To my understanding, a party is the sum of its commitments to the voter, it's an idea and ideological platform, not a private business. So the central question is whether I acted in accordance with the ideological platform and the commitments offered to the voter."
"I did not leave - [Prime Minister Naftali] Bennett and [Interior Minister Ayelet] Shaked left. They left the ideas of the party. This is such a just battle. I am doing this with a good deal of will and energy."
"I don't have expectations that the Committee members will really come with an open and willing heart and mind. These are people who will do what their bosses tell them to do. I certainly do not expect that Norwegian MKs will really listen and vote differently than how they are told to vote."
The Norwegian Law allows a minister to resign his position as a Knesset member and allow another member of his party placed further down on the list to take his place in the Knesset.
If Chikli is declared a defector, he will not be able to run in the next elections as a member of a party which is part of the current 120-member Knesset. For this reason, a new party would have to be formed if Chikli wishes to run at all.
"I know what the meaning is," he said. "But I don't intend to leave the discussion and make excited announcements about founding a party. We need to take into account that right now, there are only two parties in the nationalist camp."
"Yamina and New Hope left the nationalist camp and today there are only the Likud and Religious Zionism. The haredim are more sectorial. A vacuum has been created for the nationalist, liberal, secular-traditional public who are not necessarily interested in voting for Likud or for a party which by definition is religious, and therefore there is room for movement here. I assume that they will bring in new forces, who I will either join or lead."