Dr. Yoaz Hendel, a candidate for the Knesset on the Blue and White Knesset list, on Monday rejected Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's claims that Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid's party is a leftist party, and promised that there will be no uprooting of communities in Judea and Samaria.
"If Netanyahu's argument is the evacuation of communities, then let's examine who evacuated communities, who voted for the disengagement, who froze construction, who gave the Bar-Ilan speech and supported two states for two peoples, it was neither Gantz nor Bogie,” Hendel told Arutz Sheva.
"Bogie was the only one who resigned during the disengagement, the only one who voted against the Shalit deal. I really think that it humiliates the religious Zionist voters to assert that they are such idiots who do not remember history. Netanyahu says he will exercise sovereignty? Do me a favor…I live next to Gush Etzion, sovereignty has not been applied to one centimeter for 10 years, and Netanyahu has been prime minister for 13 years. I do not believe that there is one Israeli who buys this promise,” he continued.
Anyone who reads the platform of the Blue and White party, said Hendel, understands that there will be no evacuation of communities. "I suggest that everyone read our platform. Contrary to what Netanyahu says, there is no second disengagement. Who carried out the disengagement? The Likud. Our outline says that we have settlement and security interests in Judea and Samaria. We defined them as settlement blocs and the Jordan Valley, Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, and we defined construction and development there."
Hendel stressed that even isolated communities will not be evacuated but added that new communities will not be built. "We have determined that, outside the blocs, we will allow a normal way of life. I do not think we will evacuate a single community, I do not see such a scenario. You evacuate communities not through a unilateral act like in the disengagement, but rather by evacuating communities in a peace agreement. I am a pragmatist and I do not see the possibility of producing a peace agreement tomorrow morning, so I do not see any such possibility.”
"I answered in the clearest way - there is no scenario that I see in which communities are evacuated, there will not be unilateral steps to evacuate communities, and if one day we reach this disagreement, I will not be there. And I think Bogie was the only one who passed those tests. Netanyahu, Katz, Regev and the Likud did not pass those tests. The Likud evacuated communities so it's strange to come and accuse our party of that,” added Hendel.
"I tell those who do not live in the settlement blocs and in the Jordan Valley that they indeed live in a disputed area, but for the first time we are defining the consensus areas that we all agree upon and that is Yigal Alon’s concept. And I am telling you that our interests are to reduce the conflict and define where the consensus areas are, and that’s the settlement blocs and the Jordan Valley, and to tell those living outside the settlement blocs that they will have a normal way of life. If tomorrow you want to close a balcony in Eli or at Havat Yair you can do that, but we will not build new communities."
Hendel said that Netanyahu cannot run the country while he is under indictments. "In the end, there is a choice between a part time prime minister who is under investigation on bribery cases and facing indictments, and with a serious security-related affair. A prime minister who cannot really continue to function even if he is mistakenly elected. A prime minister who prefers, instead of saying what he does, to constantly accuse leftists while he, is in his actions, is somewhere between Peace Now and Hadash."
Hendel accused the prime minister of dividing the people, saying, "It is because of the splitting and because of the corruption that he has to go. Are the chiefs of staff leftists who hate the state? Are not we patriots? How dare he say such a thing? I suggest that all of us return to our roots, to the love of the people of Israel and not to hatred of Jews and to look at what we really want. I do not know how many of our listeners will vote for Benny Gantz, but Gantz sees the good of Israel and the people of Israel. He sees the good of those who vote for him and those who do not vote for him, he looks at the people of Israel and that's what matters."
"The biggest question is whether we want Netanyahu after 13 years. You have listeners who, although they are on the right, they are concerned about the health care system and about transportation, they are concerned about education, they deal with the same issues. After all, we live together in this country and we have 90 percent common issues in both Ofra and Be’eri (a kibbutz in southern Israel -ed). We serve together, live together, work together, sometimes even get married together,” said Hendel.
"We all understand that the other side is not exactly a partner for a lasting peace agreement, so look at what we’re dealing with. Instead of religious Zionism, in which I grew up with a world of values, dealing with the unity of Israel and the real needs of the Jewish people. Look how he turns us and that's the great danger, it's not leadership - it's cowardice," he charged.
Hendel is unfazed by the claims that Benny Gantz lacks experience to lead a country. "Parliamentary experience is the least important thing, the most important thing in a leader is to lead the public and look at its interests. I prefer a person with no experience like Benny Gantz, who with all due respect was chief of staff and managed the most complicated and difficult system with the most responsibility in the State of Israel, and I do not see anyone who even compares to him. Next to him is Bogie Ya'alon, who was defense minister and was a chief of staff and knows the entire political system, and Yair Lapid, who has political experience, and Gabi Ashkenazi, who was chief of staff. The inexperience is the last thing you can come up with as a serious argument."
Hendel is convinced that Benny Gantz will succeed in forming the next government. "We will form the coalition with all the Zionist parties that want to be a part of it. We will not repeat the case of Tzipi Livni and I tell you that already now there are parties in the current coalition, parties that belong to the current coalition, who will sit with us.”
"I remember Litzman vowing not to sit with Netanyahu because he sat with Lapid and two hours later he sat with Netanyahu. I remember Tzipi Livni who said she would not sit with Netanyahu and an hour later they signed an agreement and Tzipi Livni became justice minister. I am not conducting negotiations with you, but every Zionist religious party is invited to sit with us and we will establish a national Zionist government," he concluded.
Listen to the interview with Yoaz Hendel (in Hebrew):