The interviewers on Kan News kept pressing Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionism) if he would join forces with Ayelet Shaked (Zionist Spirit/Yamina) in one party, and he firmly answered them and to the camera that he would not.
Smotrich said that he wants a rightwing government and Shaked does not (she said she only wants a broad government). Smotrich said he wants to fix the judiciary and she doesn’t. Smotrich added for good measure, that he has a reputation for sticking to his word, and she doesn’t. He said that an apology from her would be worthless since it’s just to keep her job.
Regarding Itamar Ben-Gvir, he said he hopes they will sign an agreement to run together, and he will try his best to make it happen. He believes it will happen.
At the end of the interview, Smotrich complained that they didn’t let him talk about the important issues that he wants to discuss including the economy and security.
יו”ר הציונות הדתית סמוטריץ’: “לא אחבור לשקד בבחירות האלה. איתמר הוא שותף, אנחנו נחתום”@shemeshmicha @ZeevKam @kerenu9 #ישראל_בוחרת pic.twitter.com/VkqB5EbV0G
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) August 25, 2022
On the other side of the question of Ayelet Shaked is Shirley Pinto who just quit the Yamina party, jumping to Benny Gantz’s new party (Machane Mamlachti). Pinto said she doesn’t trust Shaked to keep to her word that she wants a broad government. Pinto believes Shaked will instead help Netanyahu form a narrow rightwing government.
Update: On Friday, Abir Kara announced he won’t be running with Shaked either.
