[VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Bayit HaYehudi Party leader Naftali Bennett appeared on the Channel 10 ‘Election Campaign’ program, asked “can you say without a doubt that on January 23rd, the day after the elections, your party with all its mandates will recommend Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu?”

Bennett responds to questions from the Channel 10 TV panel:

Bennett:

There is no question as to who the next prime minister will be. It will be Netanyahu. The question remains as to the character of the coalition. I know Netanyahu from the inside and I feel that among the realistic possibilities, he is most suited for the position. The others have to make up their minds – they must decide in which direction they are heading.

Channel 10:

What will be your coalition demands?

Bennett:

You don’t really expect that I will begin itemizing our coalition demands here in this forum? I can give you an idea of what we view as the burning issues. I do not believe any significant will occur on the Palestinian track. They also included this in the current coalition agreements and we see the reality. The question at the end of the day is what will be the focus of the new coalition.

We are the only ones capable of truly solving the sharing the burden issue for we know the army well from within, the first of the combatants, as well as we know the world of Torah. The solution is not coming from Yair Lapid.

Channel 10:

I imagine that following elections, Likud/Beitenu and Bayit Yehudi will have 50 mandates; 35:15 or 37:13, with the latter I believe is more likely since you yourself never expected to pass the 13 mark.

My question is after you enter a coalition with Yesh Atid or The Movement, or better yet, the day when the government decides to remove a caravan and Orit Struck and her colleagues are yelling, where will you be. What do you plan for that day? These people listen to their rabbonim. That is how they act.

Bennett:

You are reading from the Likud campaign list and it is full of lies. Our true test in this coalition will be to determine if we know how to fight for truly sharing the burden and lowering housing prices in the same fashion we know how to fight for Eretz Yisrael.

I am an Ish Eretz Yisrael, and that should be clear to all of you. However, if we remain one-dimensional, we will not accomplish anything.

Channel 10 (Shouting now from the Channel 10 panel):

What about Rav Dov Lior?

Bennett:

What do you want from Rav Dov Lior? What has he to do with this? Let’s please speak about facts and not theory. Rav Eli Ben-Dahan, who you like to speak about, was dismissed from the Chief Rabbinate because he was too lenient, because he waged a battle on behalf of agunos and against recalcitrant husbands. For this he was thrown out! This is part and parcel of our agreement with Ichud HaLeumi, that all decisions will be reached only in the party forum.

(He tries to explain that the party will make decisions and not the rabbonim from the various factions that comprise the party).

Channel 10:

Take Tekuma (part of the factions that make up Bayit Yehudi today). This is the rabbonim, including Rav Dov Lior.

Bennett:

Nadav, what you need to read is our unity agreement, which states specifically that once we have united into one party, we are just that, one party. Enough! You guys are doing exactly what Likud has been doing for the past month, and it’s a lie. Look at the first 15 in our lineup, four from Beersheva, people concerned with social issues. There is a kibbutz resident too and there is Orit Struk, who is a very good person and one who fights for the rights of many. (Mrs. Struk, a veteran Hebron resident, heads the Yehuda & Shomron Civil Rights organization). She fights against leftists like you.

Channel 10:

In my journalistic career I asked one intelligence question, I asked Ehud Barak what would have been had you been born a Palestinian? Please respond honestly, for I want to ask you the very same question. Have you ever tried to imagine? Have you ever thought about it?

Bennett:

That’s it? That’s your one big question. I can tell you in my career, I responded once in a miserable fashion and promised myself not to repeat that.

I have a bug. I am not objective but rather subjective. I am not in the UN. I am pro-Israel and have no desire to get into the life of the enemy. One who wishes to kill me, I simply wish to wipe him out. That’s it, that simple.

The interview continues for an addition eight minutes.

Video of Bennett responding to Channel 10:

Click HERE to watch this video on a mobile device.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)