She decided to run in the elections until the end despite the polls, she warns right-wingers not to vote for Benny Gantz, she hopes her supporters won't fear the electoral threshold, and is certain that even if her party doesn't pass it, the balance between the blocs won't be affected. Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked sat down on Thursday for an exclusive interview with Israel National News - Arutz Sheva.
Shaked discusses the Evyatar agreement, which was brought up on Thursday morning by Rabbi Chaim Druckman, a senior Religious Zionist rabbi, who spoke about the promise which was broken by the outgoing government. Shaked says that although the promise wasn't fully fulfilled, the first part - a survey of the land in the area - was.
"The first part of the deal happened. There was a survey and state lands were selected and now the Defense Minister, Benny Gantz, has to publish the findings of the survey and continue with the agreement. I call on the Defense Minister to publish the findings, after which there are 45 days for appeals. There's no reason to push it off. We need to keep our side of the agreement," says Shaked.
Shaked takes the opportunity to call on those who are debating whether to vote for her party or Benny Gantz: "Understand: In the end, the National Unity party is left-wing. Both Benny Gantz and Gadi Eizenkot are leftists who support a two-state solution and think that we have to limit the young settlement movement. I know that there are a lot of undecided voters. Come home to the Jewish Home, the party that represents your values, both religious and political."
Although all of the polls show that she won't pass the electoral threshold, Shaked says that she and her running mates intend to run until the end. "During the two days that there were rumors about me dropping out, I received thousands of messages to my phone from people saying that 'if you don't run, we aren't going to vote.' People want to return to the Jewish Home and understand that it's the home of Religious Zionism."
Shaked is convinced that miracles can happen during the final days before the election. "We have very positive momentum. The Likud is spreading a lie that isn't backed up by any poll, that we are wasting votes. It is a complete lie. In every poll that we took of our voters, if we don't run, a third will stay home, a third will vote for Gantz, and a third will vote for the right-wing bloc, therefore if we were to pull out, it wouldn't change the balance between the blocs. The Likud doesn't have 61 seats and they're preparing a scapegoat to blame for their failure."
On Wednesday, a sign with a picture of Shaked and her party's number four candidate Nitzana Darshan-Leitner was set alight in the latter's hometown of Hashmonaim, Shaked states that she sees such an act as "moral bankruptcy."
"We have to denounce it. The Religious Zionist rabbis have to call it out. There's no way that in Israel people burn the pictures of two politicians who did so much for the country and the right," she concludes.