Shas chairman Aryeh Deri on Friday ruled out the possibility that Shas would support a government in which Benny Gantz serves as Prime Minister, saying that such an option is not even on the table.
"This is not even a hypothetical possibility, it does not exist at all. Let's put it this way: This is the first time we are headed towards a pretty clear election – either Netanyahu or a government led by [Yair] Lapid with the Joint List, Ra'am and all the partners of the center-left - there is no other option," Deri told Channel 12 News in an interview.
“Gantz and [Gideon] Sa'ar cannot make a change, they will have to bring in the Likud and the haredim for that. Why should they let Gantz be Prime Minister? Why should the Likud, the largest party, not form the government?" he said.
Deri was also asked about the assertions by Degel HaTorah chairman Moshe Gafni that he would not rule out being part of a coalition headed by Lapid.
"I am not the spokesman for Gafni, but he is also not the spokesman for all of haredi Judaism. Shas has 9 seats, United Torah Judaism consists of two parties and Gafni represents only one of those parties. These elections are between two options - the realistic one, that we will win 61 seats and then we will form a government headed by Netanyahu and then we will expand it to more parties. The second possibility is that Lapid will win 61 seats, and then his camp, that of Gantz, [Avigdor] Liberman, Labor, Meretz, Ra'am and the Joint List will be together. That’s how he will achieve 61 - with Balad and with the entire Joint List. If that happens, Lapid will form a government with them within a week or two - there is nothing else in between," he argued.
Deri also blasted Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman after he blamed the previous government, of which Deri was a member, for the rise in the cost of living.
"I hope he was not serious and is trying to justify himself. In our time in the government, of which I was a member, we did everything. For five years we did not raise bread prices – to take advantage of Biden's visit, which everyone is busy with, and raise the prices of bread and claim they went up by 20%, when in fact the price of went up by 36%, is he really blaming us?" he charged.
"Bread with a bit of cheese and margarine is the appetizer, main course and dessert of many families. The prices of fuel have gone up, the prices of electricity have gone up, what will he say - that it’s because of the situation in the world? That is true, some of it is due to the situation in Ukraine, but there is over 45 billion shekels in budget surplus - from the income of who? Not of the lottery! Of the citizens of Israel who pay taxes," continued Deri.
"We left him one of the best economies in the world, so what are they doing with that money? Why do it? Liberman is at fault – he’s doing this to get revenge on the haredim. He raised taxes on paper plates. I have known him for decades, I never heard him talk about the environment before. All of a sudden Liberman is worried about obesity – all he does is raise taxes, raise prices," he said.
Deri rejected the argument that prices went up during Netanyahu’s tenure as well, saying, "In the last year, every time a product became more expensive, they would say, 'Where have you been for 12 years?' Stop this nonsense! You had a year, you had the option to do things, you did nothing - you just put fuel on this fire instead of dealing with it."
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)