MK Oded Forer (Yisrael Beytenu) expressed satisfaction on Monday over the election of the incoming state comptroller, Matanyahu Englman.
"I am happy with the election for the state comptroller. Matanyahu will be an excellent state comptroller who will be able to restore public trust in this institution and pass constructive criticism to government institutions. I hope that we will see seven good years. We voted for the candidate we committed to. Our word is important and we do not turn back on it,” Forer told Arutz Sheva.
How do you see the exchange between Netanyahu and Liberman?
"It's enough to listen to MK Smotrich, who said that if he is justice minister, he wants to promote a halakhic state and we strongly oppose this. We are in favor of a Jewish state but against a state of religious coercion. Unfortunately, the Likud surrendered to every whim of the haredi factions. I hope they got the hint."
How do you respond to the criticism of Yisrael Beytenu voters who opposed your move?
"We actually get angry responses from Netanyahu voters who claim they voted for us. I am not impressed by the army of robots or Likud activists who are writing against us on social media. We promised voters before the elections that we will insist on the Draft Law and that we will oppose a halakhic state and we are receiving a tailwind from them."
So what will change in the formation of the next government? If the results are the same, will we go back to elections again?
"The State of Israel will not be able to exist if there is a group that will not take part in the work. If we do not pass the Draft Law, we will find ourselves with one group only receiving things and another group only giving and paying. This is what we fought against. I hope that next time we will form a rightist and nationalist government that sees all the factions as partners. If the Likud does not understand that most of the public wants a Jewish state and not a halakhic state, we will be in trouble."
MK Forer added that "these elections will be about three different blocs. The Gantz bloc - the leftist camp with the Arab parties, the Netanyahu bloc and the haredim, and a bloc that represents the secular, traditional and liberal right."
Watch the interview with MK Forer (in Hebrew):