Yoav Galant
Yoav GalantFlash 90

Immigration and Absorption Minister Yoav Galant said in an interview with Arutz Sheva that Prime Minister Netanyahu's call on the smaller right-wing parties to unite ahead of the upcoming elections is a "genuine emergency call."

"We are preparing for the unification process of the left-wing bloc as Tzipi Livni is retiring from politics and they do not want to harm the left by wasting votes. Ganz is working to unite with Orly Levy and not lose votes on the left," Galant said.

"The Jewish Home and the National Union must show responsibility and act without delay to unite all the forces on the right. Otherwise the leftist bloc will win. And if a leftist government is formed here by Gantz, it will also be a weak government and will cause generations of mourning in the land of Israel. I am concerned about this issue and I call for unification among all the parties I spoke about," added.

"I propose that we give the appropriate credit to the prime minister, who has already achieved unprecedented achievements for the past decade, and to the Likud, which is thriving under his leadership and has even presented a very high quality list.

"All of us know that in the run-up to the upcoming elections, we are looking at the polls. Only a joint run between Otzma Yehudit, Jewish Home, and National Union will result in those factions not losing seats after Bennett and Shaked left. Any other joint run, according to our examinations and surveys, will not bring results. I suggest that they deal with the central issue.

Galant warned that the unification of left-wing parties will harm the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and elsewhere. "It bothers me. We are talking here about a technical union. They know very well that this is a union to prevent the loss of tens of thousands of votes, which can be the decisive mandates.

Galant said that the prime minister has a duty to show responsibility and call on the other right-wing parties to unite: "We are talking about the Likud movement which has a national responsibility. It has lead this country with short breaks for 42 years and it has been leading the right bloc ever since. You have to look at the coalition partners and definitely say very explicit things, and I do it from here in order for things to be completely clear."

"We must not lose votes because they will then be divided in equal parts between the right and the left, even though these are right-wing voices, and the left-wing camp understands this and is making great efforts to join forces.

Galant explained why the Likud would not join with Moshe Feiglin's Zehut party to prevent Zehut votes from being lost. "I think that if this was possible then we could have done it, but we know and respect Feiglin, but we also know that he [prefers to go] solo."