Ayelet Shaked
Ayelet ShakedNo credit

MK Ayelet Shaked, head of the Yamina Knesset faction, on Sunday welcomed the decision of the Jewish Home Party to support Yamina, headed by Naftali Bennett.

"I am very happy that the Jewish Home is with us. Yamina has a slate that beautifully represents the whole spectrum of religious Zionism and the ideological right. I think this is a list that is part of the path of religious Zionism to the leadership of the state," said Shaked.

"I said that Smotrich's split was unnecessary, but that’s what he decided to do and that's behind us. Now we need to move forward and succeed in the election," she added.

Shaked was asked, in light of past data showing Yamina being successful in the polls but winning fewer seats at the ballot box, whether there is a chance that this time the situation will be different.

"We see potential for an increase in seats. There are large crowds, both secular and traditional, who are joining us. There is no doubt that the vast majority of religious Zionism feels at home in the Yamina party and I think we can go up again. The public no longer buys the Likud's cries of ‘gevalt’ two days before the election. People will come to us because they are looking for honest, value-based, right-wing leadership and one that will know how to get Israel out of this mess," she replied.

Asked about Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope party, which is emerging as a direct rival of Yamina, Shaked responded, "Gideon Sa’ar belongs to the ‘anyone but Bibi’ school and really has nothing to offer except this slogan. Where has he been in the last year? I believe the vote will not be superficial and people who come to the polls will ask themselves who can rescue the country from chaos, unite the people, produce 400 thousand jobs and fight the coronavirus. In my opinion, this time on election day we will win and go up in numbers compared to the polls.”

Shaked, the former justice minister, commented on the decision of the judges of the International Criminal Court who ruled that the court's authority applies in Judea and Samaria, allowing its Chief Prosecutor to file lawsuits against Israelis.

"This is a completely political and biased court and this is a miserable decision that has no legal basis. The State of Israel investigates itself. There is the criminal investigation division, the Military Advocate General and the Supreme Court and there is no place to give a foothold to an international court. We see the court, instead of handling dark dictatorships, dealing with advanced democracies such as Israel and the United States. It is an unfortunate body that in my opinion needs to pass from this world," Shaked declared.

"In recent years, Israel has taken the right actions against the tribunal, but Netanyahu's big mistake was when the Palestinians threatened to go to the tribunal. Not all the leverage that could be exerted on them politically and diplomatically was applied at the time. I am sure we will succeed in this challenge. The are many things that can be done vis-à-vis the ICC and I hope that the right steps will be taken."

Shaked also commented on the beginning of the easing of the lockdown and said, "We are on the road to catastrophe and a fourth lockdown. Netanyahu's accordion approach - to open and close - has not proven itself, certainly not in the age of mutations. Netanyahu and Miri Regev left the airport open, despite our requests to filter through testing. Today there is one big infection party in Israel made up of mutations."

"The State of Israel is the world champion when it comes to time under lockdown and the markets here have been closed more than any other country in the world. This is inconceivable. The way this is being handled is a total failure and vaccines will not be effective quickly because of the massive infection of the mutations. The right thing is to follow Naftali Bennett's plan which talks about ‘zero infection’, and in a few days, it will be possible to release some of the cities from restrictions, return to school, open businesses and restaurants," she concluded.