The chairman of the National Union, MK Bezale Smotrich, discussed the preparations for the upcoming elections next week in an interview with Arutz Sheva.
Smotrich discussed the concerns that the Likud party would attempt to siphon votes from other right-wing parties in its efforts to defeat the Blue and White party.
According to Smotrich, the United Right list has less to fear from the prime minister's tactics than other right-wing parties. "It is true that other parties within the bloc should be more concerned, but we also do not make it easy to explain to the public that the size of the bloc is significant and the president will put the task of assembling the government on those who can form a coalition rather than the head of the largest party. Therefore it is important to vote for the right-wing bloc, but also those within the bloc who will be the backbone of the next government. It is important to vote for those who, when Trump will lay down his overall plan to hand over territories, will be the only ones who will not say that this is the lesser of two evils and will not ask what the alternative is, but will stop it."
Smotrich added that Blue and White party leader "understands this very well" and told his supporters that Smotrich and his party would be the ones who would block the upcoming Trump peace plan.
"The religious community must return home and understand the importance of a religious Zionist party in the Knesset, a party that carries the banner of these values and is committed to the public that has big ideas and wants to voice these ideas and shape government policy in light of the values," Smotrich said. "The polls place us as the largest party to the right of the Likud, and I hope that this will continue."
What about the non-observant public? Does the party speak to them as well? Smotrich believes that the answer is entirely positive. He mentioned Yossi Cohen, who is in the eighth place of the joint list, as someone who is likely to enter the next Knesset. "Yossi Cohen is a wonderful man, a resident of Ashkelon, and he is in the eighth place with the help of G-d, will enter the Knesset. And then there is the Norwegian law [by which ministers give up their Knesset seats for other party members], and I hope that Yossi will enter the Knesset. We are talking to a very wide audience."
"I believe that large parts of Israeli society are religious Zionists, people who are both Zionists and traditional. They see the state as the realization of the prophets' vision and can identify with our values. The public likes this and identifies with it without blurring or dropping flags, without denying our identity that comes from Torah and the appearance of Torah.
On the issue of the judicial system, Smotrich said that "good and important things have been done, but it is not enough. Ayelet Shaked, as justice minister, made a conscious decision to act within the boundaries of the existing sector and did not change the rules of the game. If you do not want to confront the attorney general or the president of the Supreme Court, we can only achieve limited achievements. We want to step up in the next term regarding the necessary amendment in the judicial system."
Smotrich added that he has no interest in sitting in a government which states from the beginning: "The High Court of Justice does not allow us to conduct a right-wing policy."
He cited a series of examples, beginning with the High Court's refusal to approve the holding of the bodies of terrorists, a refusal that contradicts the position of the defense establishment that sought to create deterrence and prevent the funerals of the terrorists from becoming centers of incitement. The same is true of the opposition to canceling the residency status of terrorists living in eastern Jerusalem, as in the Infiltrators Law and the enactment of the Nationality Law."
"There is no point in leaving the house and going to the polls and choosing a government that they think is a right-wing government, and then the High Court will do everything possible so that it can not govern. Therefore, I have no interest in Netanyahu taking us without this requirement, because without it everything else is a fiction."
When asked if it was not wiser to give these issues more time, Smotrich said that having these demands met before agreeing to join the coalition "is the only way to achieve this. When the haredim asked to amend the draft law and about the subject of conversion, everything was accepted in the first month, and dramatic moves are made immediately upon the entry of a government."