MK Yomtob Kalfon (Jewish Home) spoke to Israel National News on Thursday and said the responsibility for the recent security deterioration in Judea and Samaria lies on the shoulders of Defense Minister Benny Gantz, whom he said could do much more to prevent the wave of terrorism and is not doing so.
Kalfon opined that Israel should launch “Operation Defensive Shield 2” which will be deeper, though he also noted that Operation Break the Wave also has had significant successes. He said that consideration should be given to the fact that the area of northern Samaria has become the current focus of terrorism, and it is not for nothing that this is an area from which Israel disengaged and uprooted settlements. He noted the words of Gadi Eizenkot, a senior member of Benny Gantz's party, who views the Disengagement from Gaza positively and even hinted that Israel should continue to behave in this spirit.
"This is exactly the mistake of the left, who does not understand that where there is settlement and a Jewish presence there is security, and when we leave a certain area there is terrorism," said Kalfon.
Regarding Gantz's performance as Defense Minister, Kalfon said that the daily reality shows Gantz's failure as Defense Minister and that Eizenkot's desire for more withdrawals will lead to an increase in terrorism.
"Gantz is not a man of the Land of Israel. I turned to him with dozens of questions about terrorism, infrastructure, building approvals, and more, and I did not see a man of the Land of Israel there, but a man of the Zionist left, in the spirit of Rabin and Oslo. That is why I am surprised that religious Zionists are calling on people to vote for him and are moving right-wingers to a left-wing party," stated Kalfon.
In his opinion, the Jewish Home's candidacy saves votes from going to Benny Gantz and the left. His party, he claimed, wins three seats in a series of polls and a fourth seat is attainable as well. "With this seat, we will complete the 61 seats the right-wing bloc needs and that will be the solution. If we don't exist, people won't go to vote or those votes will go to Gantz's party and strengthen the opposing bloc of the left-wing, Lapid, the Arabs and Gantz. This is exactly the opposite of what Smotrich and the Likud claim."
Kalfon stated that his party will not withdraw from the race and will run to the end for the benefit of the right-wing bloc. "I meet many people on the street and in the synagogues and they tell me that we should run till the end, that we should hold out, that if we are not there they have no one to vote for. People do not sympathize with the line of Smotrich and Avi Maoz in the aspect of the progressive attitude towards those who do not think like them. People do not sympathize with Netanyahu's line who, with all his rights, has disappointed many from religious Zionism. We are the home for these people."
Responding to a recent report in Kan 11 News which said that Likud campaign experts advised Netanyahu not to attack Jewish Home chairwoman Ayelet Shaked in order to ensure the bloc's victory, Kalfon noted that, according to these reports, it is members of the Netanyahu family who want these attacks which would harm Netanyahu's chances of being elected Prime Minister.
"He does not have to help us, but at the very least he should not attack. Should the entire right-wing bloc fall because of conflicts and feelings of someone from the Netanyahu family?"