MK Dan Illouz, who recently left the Likud Party and joined Yisrael Beytenu, has claimed that he would prefer to see Democrats chairman Yair Golan serve in the next government rather than the haredi parties.
In an interview with Amit Segal on Israel's "Meet the Press" program, Illouz was asked to explain a previous post in which he sharply criticized Golan over his comments about the IDF and declared that no government should be formed with him.
Segal quoted Illouz's earlier statement, in which he wrote that "Yair Golan has lost all moral credibility" and argued that no coalition should be formed with someone who he said "incites against IDF soldiers."
Illouz responded that he had written those remarks "out of justified anger" following what he described as Golan's "unfortunate statement." He said Golan had since clarified his statement somewhat, even though their disagreements remain profound.
When Segal pointed out that Golan had never retracted his remarks, Illouz replied: "He clarified what he meant." Later, he added that he still disagrees with Golan on almost every issue, adding, "I'm a right-wing man. He's a leftist man - and very leftist."
Segal then asked whether that meant Illouz would prefer to have Golan in the government rather than the haredi parties.
Illouz answered unequivocally: "I'm saying that I'd rather have Yair Golan as Tourism Minister than Goldknopf as Interior Minister, Aryeh Deri as Finance Minister, and Moshe Gafni in his various positions."
Segal challenged him over what appeared to be a contradiction with his earlier post, saying, "So you've changed your mind."
Illouz replied that his earlier comments were made in anger over Golan's remarks, while reiterating that he does not share Golan's political or ideological views.