Shas chairman Aryeh Deri is convinced that the upcoming elections will "take us out of the political loop into which we've been forced."
In an interview with his party's publication Haderech, the Shas leader explained that "people see clearly what a destructive government, a leftist government, can do, what sort of damage, both spiritual and physical, it can do, they ruined everything in the shortest time possible."
According to Deri, "What we saw in the past year is not evil, it's gall and insolence. They are a group of clowns, which is the worst thing possible. That can be seen regarding everyone, be it the brazen Yoaz Hendel, (Matan) Kahan and (Nizan) Horowitz, and so on. Bennet the megalomaniac became the prime minister with only six seats, something which was unheard of.
Today everyone knows the truth, they can't lie anymore. Everyone knows that they're sitting with the United Arab List, everyone knows that if they would have 61 seats together with what's left on the Joint List, with Hadash and Ta'al, they'll sit with them, especially since they broke away from Balad, which 'Koshered' the Joint List."
Regarding Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked's run Deri states: "I don't want to say what I really think about what Shaked did and is doing. I'll just say that even according to her claims, that she so to speak returned to the right, that her heart is on the right and all those stories, according to the polls that say that she'll never pass the electoral threshold, she isn't even close. So if she really returned to the right and wants a right-wing government, the best thing for her to do is to pull out of the race, and not harm the right by wasting tens of thousands of votes. For her political interest, this would also be the best thing.
Among other questions, the Shas chairman was asked what would happen if the right-wing parties won't receive the 61 seats needed to form a government: "G-d forbid! Woe is to us if we don't win these elections. If that G-d forbid happens, we are to blame, it shows that we didn't do enough. We won't have an excuse this time. We are at the best starting point possible, and they're in a bad state. We have to win, we can not lose the elections," Deri answers.
"I don't want to imagine what would happen if we don't win. Even if they don't manage to form a government, we have to remember, this time if we don't form a government, they are the ones who stay in power, Yair Lapid stays interim prime minister, and that's another 4-5 months of damage in all realms."