Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, who heads the Sephardic-haredi Shas party, on Tuesday spoke about the political situation in Israel and the possibility that Israel may need to hold elections for the third time in twelve months.
"We cannot hold third elections, it would be almost as if we gave up on ourselves. We need to know how to overcome things and find a solution so that we can form a government and prevent elections," he said.'
"The public wants a broad unity government."
According to Deri, the challenges facing Israel require a broad government.
"It's true, unemployment is at a low, economic statistics are good, but should we spend billions on another round of elections because of that?" he asked. "I'm telling you, as a member of the security cabinet, the security challenges are large and complex, some of them are known and most of them are not known, and so we need stability."
"We've been stuck in elections for an entire year, and it influences all of the government's offices and their ability to function. I am taking every opportunity to pull at the heartstrings of the two Binyamins (Benjamins - ed.) - [Israeli Prime Minister] Binyamin Netanyahu, and [Blue and White Chairman MK] Benny Gantz: Sit in a room and do everything to prevent elections."
"The public will not forgive the one who does not act to prevent additional elections. We have another fifteen days to prevent elections. The disparities are small, there are no issues of right and left and we can overcome them. We must do it."