Yariv Levin
Yariv LevinTomer Neuberg/Flash 90

Tourism Minister Yariv Levin (Likud) on Thursday expressed concerns over the split among the parties on the right.

"The situation is certainly disturbing," Levin told Arutz Sheva. "I think we are encountering a phenomenon that we have not seen in past election campaigns. There is great complacency among right-wing voters. The motivation on the other side of the map is much higher when compared to the huge split in the right-wing bloc."

Levin warned that smaller lists that are running for the Knesset may be erased on the day after the elections, and even if they succeed in entering the Knesset, it will be difficult to form a coalition.

"I think that the bottom line is that this is only a little bit of what we will experience here if, heaven forbid, this complacency will continue, and the move that Blue and White is trying will succeed. We are a few days away from the elections, the polling stations have not yet opened, everything is still open, and if we come to our senses, speak to one another and ensure that everyone goes out to vote, I think it will certainly be possible to change the picture which, as I said, is very disturbing at the moment,” he said.

Minister Levin warned right-wing voters against voting for Moshe Feiglin’s Zehut party which, he said, could lead to Benny Gantz being prime minister. "I think that all these things must stand before the eyes of right-wing voters. We must go out and vote and it is important to strengthen the Likud and Prime Minister Netanyahu so that we are indeed tasked with forming the next government.”

He attacked the Blue and White party and its campaign, saying, "Lies upon lies at an almost impossible rate. Any spin, if it holds for two days - excellent. If not, they go straight to the next lie without blinking. We saw this with all the lies that were told about the submarine issue until it became clear that the prime minister did not receive even a single penny related to this matter at all. We saw the bizarre story with the bots who supposedly respond in support of the prime minister as if there are not millions of Israeli citizens who support and appreciate his actions, and the goes on.”

Levin accused most of the media for collaborating with Lapid and Gantz's lies. "The media does not give a real and sufficient expression to many of the difficult events that are related to Blue and White people, beginning with the fact that this list tries to hide the fact that it is a leftist list and in fact presents no real way.”

"Gabi Ashkenazi, number 4 on that list, ran to the court and received an order that prevents the publication of information regarding his conduct that is apparently very important to the public on the eve of the elections. We have seen Benny Gantz's 50 million case, a very serious incident. Here, too, by the way, there is an unequal enforcement by the law enforcement authorities. When it comes to Binyamin Netanyahu, they are investigating everything or rushing to publish everything, and here there is such a serious incident, as the State Comptroller's report shows, and there is no investigation or publications," continued Levin.

"In most of the polls, Blue and White has an advantage of as much as four seats, but I think the polls are not the main component because they cannot really predict the question of which small parties will pass the threshold and which will not. And it should be said clearly - anyone who votes for one of the small right-wing parties definitely takes a risk and endangers the right-wing government and even increases the chances that the formation of the government will be placed in the hands of Lapid and Gantz, not Netanyahu."

"The current government,” added Levin, “has tremendous achievements on the economic level, in lowering electricity, water, public transportation, raising the wages of soldiers in compulsory service, raising allowances for needy elderly people, unemployment is one of the lowest in the world, and the list goes on. We have seen tremendous achievements in the political arena in recent days alone, from recognition of our sovereignty over the Golan to such close cooperation with Russia.”

"Of course, on the security level, with all the difficulties, Israel is still an island of stability in the world. We are surrounded by explosive incidents all the time, and to this day we have almost completely succeeded in preventing their infiltration into our territory. I think all of these things could go down the drain. The main thing of course is preserving settlement, strengthening settlement, mass building and exploitation of the period we still have with Trump as president of the United States to continue to develop the settlement enterprise.”

"All these things are at stake," Levin stressed. "They are far more important than all sorts of slogans about alleged liberalism or pot smoking, and certainly an attempt to deceive by Lapid, Gantz, Ofer Shelah, Yael German and their partners who will lead us down a very bad path."

Listen to the interview with Minister Levin (in Hebrew):