After concluding a long-awaited merger deal with the National Religious Party, bringing unity to the Knesset's two right-wing parties, the National Union must now deal with challenges from its left (the Likud), and from splinter groups on the right.
"There is no real difference between the Likud and Kadima," Bank told Arutz-7. "Both of them keep on talking about peace, agreements and what borders we will be willing to retreat to. We, on the other hand, say that the Palestinian Authority must be dismantled and totally disarmed, and that Israel must take control again over those areas."
"Under what circumstances would you agree to join a government led by Kadima or Likud?" Arutz-7 asked.
Bank: "Our first priority is a government whose guidelines state it will not give away parts of the Land of Israel. I am then generally asked how we will guarantee that this will be enforced. The answer is that it will have to be stated as well that there must be a referendum beforehand."
A-7: "So the government will say, 'Fine, we will give away land, but we'll hold a referendum first' - and you will join such a government?"
Bank: "No, and that's the fine difference. If they plan in advance to give away territory, we will not join. But if they say that they want to be able to consider that option based on developments, and agree to be shackled by their commitment to a referendum - we will join such a government."
Bank does not deny that the National Union and the NRP don't agree on every point: "Further on down the road, after the PA is dismantled, we [in the National Union] have a vision that may be different than that of the National Religious Party, and that is the plan outlined by MK Benny Elon [pictured] called the Right Road to Peace."
The plan calls for the dismantling of all Arab refugee camps, the transfer of their occupants to Arab countries, and the granting of Jordanian citizenship to the Arabs who remain.
Baruch Marzel of the Hazit splinter group boasts that Elon was forced to bury his "transfer" plan in order for the NRP to agree to the merger. Bank responded to this point, but provided a short introduction first:
"Marzel is a great warrior for the Nation of Israel, but in terms of political savvy, let's just say that he has a lot to learn. The right-wing has had enough of those people who refuse to give up on any of their principles, run on their own, and then lose us a lot of votes. The National Union is the opposite: it works for unity as well as for achieving the most it can in the political arena.
"Yes, the NRP doesn't agree to the transfer plan, and that's why this issue is not on the joint party platform. In 1999, when we ran together with Benny Begin, he also didn't agree, and so for the sake of unity, we agreed not to include it in the platform, but rather kept it only in our Moledet party platform. In 2003, when the National Union included Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu, all of us agreed on this plan, as so it was in our joint platform. This time, we are reverting to our 1999 style, which is also acceptable. The main thing is that we have so much that unites us and enables us to run as one - but by attacking and besmirching us, Marzel is causing discord within the right-wing camp, and undermining the unity that we have worked for since 1999 [when the National Union was formed]."
Further emphasizing how the National Union makes the most of the political arena, Bank said,
"Do you realize that Benny Elon, as Tourism Minister in the Sharon government, was able to use his position to go to the United States and promote his peace plan, sometimes known as the transfer plan? That's quite an accomplishment!"
A-7: "That sounds like you will want to join a future government, as Marzel is accusing."
Bank : "Yes indeed, we want to be powerful enough that Binyamin Netanyahu will want us to join him in his government."
Arutz-7: "What will the joint party's policy be on this issue? The NRP is more anxious than you are to join the government, and Marzel claims that the NRP is actually very anxious to join. We all know that the right-wing parties joined the Sharon government, unwittingly enabling it to implement the Disengagement plan. How will this be decided in the future between your two parties?"
Bank: "I thank Marzel for bringing this up, because this is one of the very reasons we made the merger with the NRP: to handcuff them from joining a government against our will [for at least two years -ed.]. Everyone thinks that the reason it took so long to finalize this merger was because of small-minded motives regarding our MKs' positions on the list, and the like. In actuality, though, we wanted to make sure that in any constellation, we would always have a majority - exactly for this purpose.
"We have 6 of the first 10, and then Yahalom [of NRP] is #11, and from then on, it goes up in pairs - two from the National Union and two from the NRP, in that order. This means that no matter how many Knesset seats we receive, we [the National Union] will always have the majority. If at worst, the NRP wants to split off, they will not be able to split off as a faction, but rather as individuals - meaning they will not be able to take their share of the party monies. What this means is that we have effectively made sure that the list remains united, and does not enter a government unless we agree."
Persons close to Marzel say he is aware that he has practically no chance of receiving enough votes to enter the Knesset. Bank agreed:
"At least last time [in 2003], when he ran together with [ex-Likud MK] Michael Kleiner, there was some chance. But now, they're both running on separate lists, and the minimum threshold has been raised [to approximately 70,000 votes, or 2% of the total number of votes - ed.]. In addition, Marzel's core base last time was Chabad, but I have heard that Chabad is not planning to make the same mistake twice. We are working with Chabad, and though it's not yet in the bag, the talk is that Chabad realizes it made a mistake last time voting for Marzel/Kleiner."
Arutz-7: "What is your party's goal for this election?"
Bank: "Our goal is to ensure that the right-wing camp is strong enough to prevent a left-wing government from being established. It's not impossible. If the Likud receives 15-20 seats, and if we receive the same amount, and with a strong Shas, United Torah Judaism and Yisrael Beiteinu, it can be done. A poll by Brain Base shows that this camp already has 49 seats - and if Netanyahu succeeds in passing his primaries initiative, it grows to 54 seats. So this means that we're closing in!"
"There is no real difference between the Likud and Kadima," Bank told Arutz-7. "Both of them keep on talking about peace, agreements and what borders we will be willing to retreat to. We, on the other hand, say that the Palestinian Authority must be dismantled and totally disarmed, and that Israel must take control again over those areas."
"Under what circumstances would you agree to join a government led by Kadima or Likud?" Arutz-7 asked.
Bank: "Our first priority is a government whose guidelines state it will not give away parts of the Land of Israel. I am then generally asked how we will guarantee that this will be enforced. The answer is that it will have to be stated as well that there must be a referendum beforehand."
A-7: "So the government will say, 'Fine, we will give away land, but we'll hold a referendum first' - and you will join such a government?"
Bank: "No, and that's the fine difference. If they plan in advance to give away territory, we will not join. But if they say that they want to be able to consider that option based on developments, and agree to be shackled by their commitment to a referendum - we will join such a government."
Bank does not deny that the National Union and the NRP don't agree on every point: "Further on down the road, after the PA is dismantled, we [in the National Union] have a vision that may be different than that of the National Religious Party, and that is the plan outlined by MK Benny Elon [pictured] called the Right Road to Peace."
The plan calls for the dismantling of all Arab refugee camps, the transfer of their occupants to Arab countries, and the granting of Jordanian citizenship to the Arabs who remain.
Baruch Marzel of the Hazit splinter group boasts that Elon was forced to bury his "transfer" plan in order for the NRP to agree to the merger. Bank responded to this point, but provided a short introduction first:
"Marzel is a great warrior for the Nation of Israel, but in terms of political savvy, let's just say that he has a lot to learn. The right-wing has had enough of those people who refuse to give up on any of their principles, run on their own, and then lose us a lot of votes. The National Union is the opposite: it works for unity as well as for achieving the most it can in the political arena.
"Yes, the NRP doesn't agree to the transfer plan, and that's why this issue is not on the joint party platform. In 1999, when we ran together with Benny Begin, he also didn't agree, and so for the sake of unity, we agreed not to include it in the platform, but rather kept it only in our Moledet party platform. In 2003, when the National Union included Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu, all of us agreed on this plan, as so it was in our joint platform. This time, we are reverting to our 1999 style, which is also acceptable. The main thing is that we have so much that unites us and enables us to run as one - but by attacking and besmirching us, Marzel is causing discord within the right-wing camp, and undermining the unity that we have worked for since 1999 [when the National Union was formed]."
Further emphasizing how the National Union makes the most of the political arena, Bank said,
"Do you realize that Benny Elon, as Tourism Minister in the Sharon government, was able to use his position to go to the United States and promote his peace plan, sometimes known as the transfer plan? That's quite an accomplishment!"
A-7: "That sounds like you will want to join a future government, as Marzel is accusing."
Bank : "Yes indeed, we want to be powerful enough that Binyamin Netanyahu will want us to join him in his government."
Arutz-7: "What will the joint party's policy be on this issue? The NRP is more anxious than you are to join the government, and Marzel claims that the NRP is actually very anxious to join. We all know that the right-wing parties joined the Sharon government, unwittingly enabling it to implement the Disengagement plan. How will this be decided in the future between your two parties?"
Bank: "I thank Marzel for bringing this up, because this is one of the very reasons we made the merger with the NRP: to handcuff them from joining a government against our will [for at least two years -ed.]. Everyone thinks that the reason it took so long to finalize this merger was because of small-minded motives regarding our MKs' positions on the list, and the like. In actuality, though, we wanted to make sure that in any constellation, we would always have a majority - exactly for this purpose.
"We have 6 of the first 10, and then Yahalom [of NRP] is #11, and from then on, it goes up in pairs - two from the National Union and two from the NRP, in that order. This means that no matter how many Knesset seats we receive, we [the National Union] will always have the majority. If at worst, the NRP wants to split off, they will not be able to split off as a faction, but rather as individuals - meaning they will not be able to take their share of the party monies. What this means is that we have effectively made sure that the list remains united, and does not enter a government unless we agree."
Persons close to Marzel say he is aware that he has practically no chance of receiving enough votes to enter the Knesset. Bank agreed:
"At least last time [in 2003], when he ran together with [ex-Likud MK] Michael Kleiner, there was some chance. But now, they're both running on separate lists, and the minimum threshold has been raised [to approximately 70,000 votes, or 2% of the total number of votes - ed.]. In addition, Marzel's core base last time was Chabad, but I have heard that Chabad is not planning to make the same mistake twice. We are working with Chabad, and though it's not yet in the bag, the talk is that Chabad realizes it made a mistake last time voting for Marzel/Kleiner."
Arutz-7: "What is your party's goal for this election?"
Bank: "Our goal is to ensure that the right-wing camp is strong enough to prevent a left-wing government from being established. It's not impossible. If the Likud receives 15-20 seats, and if we receive the same amount, and with a strong Shas, United Torah Judaism and Yisrael Beiteinu, it can be done. A poll by Brain Base shows that this camp already has 49 seats - and if Netanyahu succeeds in passing his primaries initiative, it grows to 54 seats. So this means that we're closing in!"