Designated Heritage Minister MK Rabbi Amichai Eliyahu (Otzma Yehudit) spoke with Israel National News about the incident in Hevron last weekend and called to act with a heavy hand against leftist activists who try to disrupt the IDF's activities.
"I was also a soldier in Hevron. I've run into these anarchists, who provoke and film partial videos. These are one-sidedly biased people who try to catch IDF soldiers in embarrassing situations or to embarrass them, and we need to put them in their place. The police and IDF need to prevent them from proking," Rabbi Eliyahu declared.
According to him "Soldiers can't be afraid of this. We need to remove this threat from the battlefield and allow IDF soldiers to work well and cleanly to restore security to the citizens of the state of Israel and the calm that everyone is waiting for. These people are part of the destruction of our deterrence capabilities and they are crumbling the IDF's ability to stand."
Rabbi Eliyahu has a clear reply to MK Boaz Bismuth's criticism of MK Itamar Ben Gvir for planning on visiting the Temple Mount. "There must be Jewish prayer services on the Temple Mount and we need to strive to build our temple there. I understand that MK Bismuth's words were also taken out of context. We will go back to the days when the Temple Mount is really in our hands."
When asked about the negotiations with the Likud, Eliyahu responds: "I feel that the connection between us and the Likud's negotiating team is good, there's mutual trust and cooperation. We see eye to eye on a lot of things. The Likud understands that the citizens of Israel, as well as their voters, want to see change. We're coming to work. No one comes to the Knesset for the job, rather they come to fulfill their principles, and those are the positions that we demanded."
Rabbi Eliyahu was asked if he's worried that, although his party is responsible for recognizing settlements, the ministerial committee that will deal with such matters will be headed by Benjamin Netanyahu. According to Eliyahu: "Part of politics is pressure and part is trust. I hope that we will be able to do things cooperatively and we won't need to apply pressure. The last government knew how to get things done quickly, and I hope, pray, and know that in the incoming government we will be able to use all means that we learned from the left how to rule in the state of Israel."
And what about matters of religion and state? "I didn't give up on my dreams and we'll get to them. The negotiations for the Religious Affairs Portfolio are between Shas and Religious Zionism and we will find a way to influence this field. This is the reason that I joined the Knesset, my ideas and mission were proven and I plan to work for them."