Yamina MK Matan Kahane rejected allegations that his party "set aside" all issues important to the national camp, but explained that the most urgent thing in the next government is to take care of the livelihoods of Israeli citizens.
In an interview at the Arutz Sheva studio, Kahane says: "We are a Rightist party with all that it implies, we're value-based and ideological. Without Naftali Bennett, today there would be a Palestinian state. Only Bennett brought the issue of sovereignty into the Israeli discourse. Only Ayelet Shaked brought the issue of restraining the court into the discourse. What we can do is also to get the people out of the deep crisis they are in and also for there to be a Right," says Kahane.
Kahane responds with disapproval to claims that the chairman of his party, Bennett, would be willing to join the Left and parties like Meretz in order to form a government. "What they forgot to say is that only if hair grows on the palm of our hands. Meretz is irrelevant to any government we can sit in because they trample everything dear to us. We will sit down with anyone who will accept our guidelines that are Right-wing in every way.
"We did not give up on the idea of forming a government, but the public will decide. We think Naftali Bennett is the one who is fit to form the next government because he is the only one who has the skills, who doesn't reject anyone and isn't rejected by anyone, and is the only one who acts like a leader," he adds.
Against the background of criticism leveled by the Religious Zionist Party, Kahane emphasizes that the Yamina Party best represents this public. "I don't suggest to anyone from another party to come and check our values. No one will tell Alon Davidi who was the mayor of Sderot, Naftali Bennett, or me what the values of religious Zionism are because we come from the heart of the public.
"We understand that now there's a crisis in the country, and the most significant thing is to give people bread. This is religious Zionism, helping people get out of the economic crisis; giving them back their dignity and livelihood is the most important thing now. We will not give up anything else and do both."
In his opinion, Yamina and the Religious Zionist Party will work side by side in the next Knesset. "After the election, I'm convinced, we'll work together. We believe in very similar things. Smotrich forced this separation on us due to a quarrel over seats. We went ahead and it's his right to establish his own list. Whoever wants Tekumah, Otzma, and Noam has a party, and whoever wants the mainstream values of Religious Zionism knows we're the address."
Kahane, chairman of the lobby for religious services in the outgoing Knesset, clarifies that Yamina has clear and decisive positions on matters of religion and state. "We have a very clear statement. The Jewish identity of the State of Israel is critical to us. I don't move an inch on these issues without close rabbinical guidance. I'm very attentive to the rabbis of Har Etzion, these are the rabbis I listen to and want to implement their path... We won't be able to achieve anything by force and this must be done in the form of a social contract."
And what about supporting a law that would prevent the prime minister's trial? "We will not support any retroactive or personal bill. As for what will be in the future, we think a French law should be enacted including a restriction of tenure so that a prime minister can implement the policy for which he was elected."
