Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu evokes very strong emotions in people, something he is knows well. Crisscrossing the country on the week leading up to the March 2 elections – an unprecedented third vote in the span of one year – the spectrum of those emotions became very clear.
In a special interview with Israel Hayom, Netanyahu speaks about navigating the complex political Israeli reality, the seemingly never-ending election year, the security challenges the country faces, and his legal woes.
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Q: Dr. Avishay Ben Haim, [Channel 13 News' analyst on the ultra-Orthodox community], says that you symbolize the struggle between 'First Israel,' the elite, and 'Second Israel,' which you represent. Can you relate to this theory?
"That really spoke to me, especially when I read it in Haaretz. Ravit Hecht wrote, in no uncertain terms, that Blue and White represents the attempt by 'First Israel' to perpetuate its status, that 'Mapai's [the left-wing party that ruled Israel until the 1970s] well-toned daughter' is trying to ensure that that people of certain ethnicity won't even dream of being ministers. I cannot accept this separation of 'First Israel' and 'Second Israel'. The social periphery must be abolished, and if my rivals want to take me to task over that – let them.
"But I think there is another reason. If I pushed a leftist agenda, all would be forgiven and everyone would embrace me regardless," he said, alluding to the various personal and political accusations leveled at him over the years. "But as I represent an agenda that pushes national pride rather than cowering, it creates the juxtaposition of fierce opposition as well as staunch support."
Q: You represent the moderate Right and you are very "First Israel.' You could easily be the Left's prime minister.
"Perhaps I am accused of debunking the senseless theory that if we relinquish land, we'll get peace in return. I adamantly stood against two American administrations that tried to push us back to the 1967 lines. Maybe I'm guilty of preventing that nightmare from coming true. They [Blue and White] haven't gotten over it yet, but they now represent themselves as pseudo-right-wing."
Q: You have worked with Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, Moshe Ya'alon, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman, and Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid in the past. Why didn't they join a national unity government?
"Ask them. I asked Gantz, but he refused. I think we are within reach of victory. Gantz isn't – he's missing 11 seats and he has no way of closing that gap without the support of the Joint Arab List. We are within reach of 61 seats. There's a great resurgence of the Likud," he asserted, referring to the minimal number of mandates necessary to form a coalition.
Netanyahu is the first incumbent Israeli prime minister to be indicted. He faces corruption charges in three separate cases and his trial is set to begin on March 17.
Touching on his legal troubles, the prime minister asserted his innocence and said he is not wary of the legal proceedings ahead.
"Truth and justice are on my side and the truth will come out," he said. "I'm not concerned about a trial because it will be at least a year or two until it actually begins. My abilities – what I get done in one hour others can't do in a year or at all. My pace is quite different than that of MK Gantz."
The full interview with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will appear in Israel Hayom on Friday
