MK Sharren Haskel (New Hope) explained in an interview with Arutz Sheva-Israel National News why her party decided not to remain in the government and explained that the move is not a political one.
"The majority of the public sees the situation. The last two months have been difficult, the war is faltering, the forces have reduced their military activity in Gaza. This is prolonging the campaign and distancing an outline for the return of hostages because the military pressure on Hamas has decreased, and is also prolonging the campaign in the north. These are wrong steps. For two months we have fought and tried to do everything [to change the policy]," Haskel asserted.
"We realized that the Political-Security Cabinet has become a dead letter. The decisions are made in the War Cabinet. We asked the Prime Minister for the possibility to influence those moves from there in order to make sure that we achieve the goals of the war. The Prime Minister did not accept this due to political considerations. Netanyahu knows that the right thing was to allow Gideon Sa'ar to join the War Cabinet. If we don't have the possibility to influence, we have no other option," she stated.
"There is a large public that is right-wing, statesmanlike and liberal, and its voice is not heard in the War Cabinet and is not translated into military moves in the field. We feel that its voice needs to be heard," added Haskel.
She stressed that "our resignation is not a political move. We hoped to enter the War Cabinet. We joined the government because it was the patriotic and right thing to do. We influenced the taking of security zones in Gaza, the buffer zones, the military maneuver. At the moment, the information and decision-making are done in the War Cabinet. The public sees that what is happening on the ground is almost a ceasefire. We must be in the government and warn [about these things]. We agreed to take this responsibility so that we would have the ability to influence. We did not go in to receive jobs and we did not ask for positions - but we sought to influence the results of the war. Unfortunately, in the absence of the ability to truly have an influence, it’s not worth staying."
At the same time, Haskel said that her party will support the government in every right-wing position and especially in moves that will result in a decision in the war which is in Israel's favor. As an example, she cited the conflict with the US.
"We have a conflict with the US. I have criticism of how we expressed ourselves and of the style, it would have been better to express ourselves in a different way, but the essence - standing against the establishment of a Palestinian state, not allowing the Palestinian Authority to enter Gaza, having a maneuver in Rafah – all those things are correct. The insistence on not agreeing to a ceasefire so long as we don't have a deal in the face of a decision by the Security Council? We will support the government from the outside on this."
"They will receive our support in the face of international pressure and also for future moves that will be good for the purposes of the war. The very act of sitting in the government means taking responsibility - and you cannot take responsibility for what you do not agree with," she concluded.
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