Former Justice and Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked is shedding new light on the 2021 political negotiations, launching a sharp attack on Bezalel Smotrich’s conduct.
In an interview with journalist Akiva Novick on Mashav TV, produced by the Tzohar Rabbinic Organization, Shaked recounted how Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu pushed for a partnership with the Ra'am party. "Before the Change Government was established, Bibi [Netanyahu] held 59 seats along with us. He told us: 'We need to form a government with the Arabs, with Mansour Abbas.' After Smotrich refused, there was no government."
After her efforts to convince Gideon Sa'ar to join the Netanyahu bloc failed, Shaked pointed the finger at Smotrich. She argued that he could have rendered Ra'am irrelevant had he simply agreed to join the Change Government himself.
"Smotrich could have joined the Change Government; then, Ra'am simply wouldn't have been needed," Shaked charged.
"If, according to Smotrich’s own logic, a partnership with Ra'am marks the end of Zionism, then why wouldn't you step in to save Zionism? He chose not to; he chose to stay with Likud," she concluded.
Watch the Hebrew video: