Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) on Saturday night told Israel's "Meet the Press" program why she insists on running until the end - even though all the polls have predicted that she will not pass the electoral threshold.
"According to the polls, [MK Benjamin] Netanyahu has 59-60 Knesset seats," Shaked said. "It's enough that we pass, and he will have a stable government."
"I am doing what is right for the country. I see a large public on the right, and I think that our voice, the Jewish Home's, is an important voice in a right-wing government. We are running and we will succeed.
"It's true, we have votes, but it's still not enough. According to the positive trend that we see in the polls, there is a strengthening and a rise. More and more people understand that the Jewish Home is their home. Some in Religious Zionism who weighed voting for [Defense Minister Benny] Gantz (National Unity) are now returning home. They understand now that Gantz is a leftist."
Shaked emphasized, "We will recommend Netanyahu for prime minister. Our running, of the Jewish Home, is in order to form a right-wing government. I have not yet seen a poll on Channel 12 that shows him having 61. According to the polls, he has 59-60."
"I think that we need to form a unity government, but with the right-wing bloc together with National Unity. That is the correct thing [to do]. There is importance in preserving the right-wing bloc. If [Prime Minister Yair] Lapid (Yesh Atid) wants to join - he certainly can.".
She concluded, "I am the only one who tried to form an alternative government in the current Knesset. I went to Gantz, to [Justice Minister] Gideon Sa'ar (National Unity), to [former Prime Minister] Naftali Bennett. I told them that we could form a broad right-wing government in the current Knesset."