Hadar Mukhtar, a TikTok star who founded and chairs the "Youth on Fire" party, has called on Arab youth to vote for her party, so that she can extort the government and "make terror" in the Knesset.
In an interview with the Arab Hala TV, Mukhtar denied claims that she is backed by sources with a lot of money, saying, "No one is funding me. I will tell you even more than that: I wish they would give me money."
"What do I have? I have a TikTok page. I am a bit charismatic and I have a mobile phone. There's no money."
When asked who she will recommend for prime minister if her party passes the electoral threshold, Mukhtar said: "Whoever will give me more. I want to extort the government. I will do eenie-meenie-minie-mo. Whoever will give me more, that's who I'll go with. Why? I want to extort them... They are all the same s**t. Sorry for the expression.... I am angry at the country and at the government and that they abandoned my future and yours and your daughters'."
Mukhtar emphasized the importance she places on the Arab vote. According to her, "I need 35,000 votes from Arab society, because you know what? Because the Arab youth suffer the most, they are at the bottom of the food chain."
"We want to represent the young people in Israel, and especially the Arab youth, who, let's be honest, there is no higher education in the Galilee, there is horrific crime in Arab society, there is no money in Arab society."
Turning directly to Arab young people, Mukhtar said: "I am your white slip in the voting booth. I am your protest slip. I will terrorize them in the Knesset. I will go in and I will stick a finger in the eyes of all the corrupt politicians who you can't stand."
"Why do they (Arab youth) not vote? Because it's a protest for them, because they've disappointed them, because they've burned their future, because they have no future in this country. I don't have [a future], you don't have [a future], your daughters don't have [a future]. It's clear that none of the Arab youth will vote, and if I were in their place I also wouldn't go vote. But specifically because of that, I need them to vote for Youth on Fire."
"I want to turn to the Arab public and tell it: Go out and vote, because this is your future. They've burned your future. I understand your pain. I am here with you. I see you. I represent you. And believe me, I have the courage to make terror for them in the Knesset. I need you with me.
"If [MK] Mansour Abbas (chairman of the United Arab List -ed.) managed to get 50 billion shekel for Arab society, I am going to get 100 billion shekel for the youth... I am going to extort the government and the country."
At the same time, Mukhtar said that she will resign if she fails to implement the planned reform: "If I, in a year, do not make the changes that I want to make, I will get up and leave."
She added that business and political sources have offered her monetary or political compensation for bowing out of the race.
"I met with one of the richest people in Israel a few weeks ago, and he told me, 'Listen, if you don't run, I will give you money. I will pay you.' It's horrific. And it turns out that this happens a lot.... And I stood up and said, 'No.' And they also offered me positions. They told me, 'Come, bow out, you'll be a minister.' 'Come, bow out, you'll receive a position in the Finance Ministry.' 'Come, bow out, maybe you will have a position in a ministry.'"