MK David Bitan (Likud) on Thursday evening commented on the survival of the government and claimed that it had disintegrated long ago, and in the coming days the entire Knesset will dissolve and a date will be set for elections.
"It was over a long time ago. Formally it will be over soon. They are trying to reach the end of the Knesset session in order to postpone the election but they already understand that they have no choice," Bitan said in an interview with Radio Kol Chai.
"Every child on the street will tell you that there is no government. How much can you give and give and not receive anything in return? Today they stopped the budget for Zoabi."
Bitan added, "They are not willing to admit failure, but as long as they continue to waste time, we will continue to rise in the polls, I do not think they will survive the summer session. And for that to happen we must take another seat from the coalition and we are working on it. If we get 61, we have a government of our own without any problems."
He commented on the criticism of things that were not done during Netanyahu's time in office and said, "We did many things in 12 years, but we did not have a majority for everything, for example for changes in the justice system. There was Kahlon, before that it was Barak."
Bitan declared, "I oppose a government with Sa'ar, that would mean we did not keep our promises to the public and our popularity would go down. The only chance is only elections now."
Bitan was asked how many guaranteed spots in the Likud slate for those defecting from coalition would the members of the Likud agree to.
"If it’s between two and three spots - we can live with it, but no more than that. We need one more to defect. The Netanyahu family removed the veto on [Ayelet] Shaked, but she is not defecting and is instead trying to strengthen this government and is making a mistake. We do not sit and wait, we take action. The Likud made a mistake when they only spoke to Silman when they needed another one."
Bitan clarified, "Netanyahu is our candidate, only he can bring in 61 seats. Do you think Edelstein can beat Netanyahu? I do not want a government in which the left determines for us who will be Prime Minister and lead the Likud. Netanyahu is loved by the right and is a seat machine."