שקד: נתניהו זה לא ימין

MK Ayelet Shaked, no. 2 on the Yamina slate, was a guest on Sunday at Arutz Sheva’s studio in Jerusalem and responded to the Otzma Yehudit video against Yamina and its chairman, Naftali Bennett.

"It is all a lie, I prefer not to respond to it. Bezalel [Smotrich], who has been our partner for many years, knows very well that Yamina is a value-based, ideological party. We will not sit with the Joint List and Ra’am. The question is whether Bezalel and [Itamar] Ben Gvir know how to say something and commit to the same thing," Shaked said.

Where are you in the Yamina campaign? In previous rounds we saw you in the campaign, people are asking where you are.

"I am part of the campaign, I am being interviewed non-stop. I presented the governance plan in the Negev, tomorrow I will publish the housing plan, today we are dealing with the 'Singapore Plan', [which is] the economic plan. We have a lot of plans, a lot of work, we unlike other parties are trying to present what should be done and not just what should not be done, and really show a series of plans on a variety of topics."

How will the 'Singapore Plan' really affect working families in Israel?

"It will affect every working family. Every working family will receive between 15 and 20 percent more. If today a family receives ten thousand shekels, it will receive 11 and a half thousand shekels."

Where will the money come from?

"The main idea is to significantly reduce taxes from those who work and freeze the public sector. Not raise the budget for the public sector. The public sector today is inflated, big, there are lots of unnecessary ministries. Everybody got up to hand out jobs and ministerial positions, you have to cut ministries to 22, freeze budgets, use what you have, and then you can fund the tax cut. Thatcher did it, Reagan did it, they succeeded big time. They did something similar in Singapore, too, and there is no reason for us not to be a successful country like Singapore. In 2003 we had the same data as them, since then they have soared and we are not making progress. This tax cut needs to be done, it will lead to tremendous growth."

We saw the governance program in the Negev, is it really possible to do anything? What can really be done in the field?

"There is a lot that can be done. First of all, we need to understand what is happening: illegal construction, drug tunnels and drug incubators, protection of businesses, break ins and thefts at IDF bases, and the shocking incident of the assault of a 10-year-old girl. We lost the Negev. This is the wild south for all intents and purposes. Only if there is a determined Prime Minister who puts it at the top of the country's list of priorities can it be addressed. One minister alone can’t get it done. As Minister of Justice, I took two very significant steps: I registered 180,000 dunams in the name of the state in the western Negev and began to address the phenomenon of polygamy. But as soon as I was fired from the Ministry of Justice, the issue was neglected and not promoted."

"Only if there is a Prime Minister who knows how to pass the laws that need to be passed regarding land, strengthen the police, establish a civil guard with police powers and bring in the Border Police if necessary, will it be possible to deal with it. The residents of the Negev are talking about taking the law into their own hands. We really intend to take this issue seriously. But I want to say, it will only be possible to do so if we have enough seats and the Prime Minister is Naftali Bennett and we can put that at the top of our priorities. In all Netanyahu's governments, this issue has been completely neglected and if the Prime Minister does not address it, it is impossible to address it alone."

Is there a ceasefire between you and Sa’ar?

"He started with the mess, he distributed videos against us, promoted articles against us on the Internet, we have no desire for it and there is no need for it. Bezalel Smotrich and Ben Gvir are in a negative campaign about us, why don’t they present their list of members and what they have to offer? Gideon Sa’ar is in a negative campaign about us, let him present what he has to offer. Other than 'just not Bibi' I have not seen anything at the moment. So we are certainly not interested in it. We are in a positive campaign, trying to explain to the public why we need a strong Yamina, what we have to offer in each area, and we try to stay away from these things."

It is very nice to say 'we are not in Netanyahu's pocket', but what do you say to voters who fear the formation of a left-wing government?

"Netanyahu is the one who formed a left-wing government. To this day, Netanyahu has always included left-wing parties in his coalition. He dumped the National Union and Otzma Yehudit in 2009 and brought in Ehud Barak, he signed with Tzipi Livni and wanted to throw us into the opposition, he let Nissenkorn, Amir Peretz and Benny Gantz control his last government. To this day, Netanyahu has specialized in forming left-wing governments.We say: 'Whoever wants a strong right in any government that is formed needs a big Yamina.' That's the meaning.Whoever wants a safe right should vote for Yamina, because when they vote for another party they do not know, maybe they will be in the opposition."

The New Hope party said in response: Gideon Sa’ar is running for Prime Minister against Binyamin Netanyahu and does not intend to attack Naftali Bennett and the Yamina party, even if they continue to do so.