MK Orit Strock
MK Orit StrockEliezer Rieger

MK Orit Strock (Religious Zionism) has sharply attacked the conduct of Likud party head Benjamin Netanyahu, calling his handling of coalition negotiations with her party "illogical and wrong."

"Benjamin Netanyahu is treating us like surplus and is delegitimizing us," she told Kan Reshet Bet on Sunday morning, responding to briefings from Likud members suggesting that Religious Zionism party head Bezalel Smotrich will not receive the Defense portfolio, even if it means that coalition negotiations break down and the country heads to fresh elections.

"We're prepared to go a long way in our demand for the Defense portfolio," Strock emphasized. "We promised it to our voters, and political partners should not be treating each other like this. The current situation is extremely grave. Netanyahu is not treating us like partners.

"During the pre-election period, we did not hear Netanyahu saying that our demands were illegitimate," she noted. "Why doesn't he want Bezalel Smotrich to be appointed Defense Minister? For the exact same reason that we do want it. More than half a million citizens voted for us due to the promises we made on security-related issues, and we are continuing to work in full alignment with the Otzma Yehudit party in order to implement all these things."

Speaking to Kol Berama radio earlier, UTJ MK Uri Maklev said, "Coalition negotiations should be conducted in a spirit of partnership, without one side having to ask to be given something from the other. We're not a new political party and there has to be an element of trust. The Likud party seems to be mainly concerned with what things look like from abroad, but we should not be guided by such considerations. We should simply be doing what's right."

According to Maklev, the negotiations should be accelerated and concluded as swiftly as possible. "I hope very much that there will be concrete progress made this week, a week that will be critical in terms of seeing where we're headed. Up until now, there hasn't been any intensive effort to get things moving. This week we'll see if they continue to pressure their partners - or we'll demand answers."