Ze'ev Elkin
Ze'ev ElkinT.P.S.

Environmental Protection Minister Ze'ev Elkin (Likud) believes that despite the recent polls, the right-wing bloc will manage to win 61 Knesset seats even without the Yisrael Beytenu party.

Speaking at the 5th Katif Conference in Yad Binyamin, Elkin said: "This isn't a heavenly decree, and we can't give up."

"The New Likudniks are trying to change the Likud from a right-wing party to a centrist party. In order to protect the settlements and the right-wing policies, we have no choice: The right-wing camp needs to band together to encourage residents of Judea and Samaria, as well as Religious Zionists, to join the Likud."

Promising to work to cancel the Disengagement Law in northern Samaria, Elkin added: "The amount of construction in Judea and Samaria over the past few years is unlike anything we've seen in the past 20 years. The creation of a leftist government will cause the eviction of 70,000 settlers."

When asked about construction projects in Jerusalem's Givat Hamatos neighborhood, which the government has delayed, Elkin explained that the project "has unfortunately been stuck in every government. In my eyes this is one of the important goals in advancing construction in Jerusalem. We have succeeded in allowing most of the 'stuck' projects to continue, other than Givat Hamatos, and that is for political reasons."