Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called an emergency gathering on Motzei Shabbos during which he accused Blue and White and Yisrael Beiteinu of trying to “steal the elections through lies and anti-democratic legislation.”

The meeting followed reports on Motzei Shabbos that Blue and White are in the process of forming a minority government together with Yisrael Beiteinu and Labor-Gesher-Meretz with the outside support of the Arab Joint List as well as the confirmation of Blue and White last week that it is seeking to advance a law banning a prime minister with indictments from serving in an attempt to prevent Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu from forming a government.

Netanyahu spoke at a Likud branch in Petach Tikva and his speech was broadcast live to 15 Likud branches throughout Israel in lieu of a mass rally due to the Health Ministry’s ban of large gatherings to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.

Netanyahu said that the Likud won “an amazing victory. We received 1,300,000 votes – more than the Likud party received in the history of the state,” he said. “Blue and White under the leadership of Benny Gantz remained in the same place…They didn’t go up by even one seat.”

The prime minister shared that Likud could have won an additional seat if he would have agreed to Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben-Gvir’s stipulation for dropping out of the race – allowing Jews to daven on Har Habayis. Netanyahu said he refused to consider it because it would “have set the Middle East on fire. There’s a limit to what I’ll do to win an election but our adversaries apparently don’t have any limits.”

“Benny Gantz, [Moshe] Bogie Yaalon, Gabi Askenazi… promised before the elections that they ‘wouldn’t rely on the Arab Joint List because they’re supporters of terror,'” Netanyahu said, adding that now that’s exactly what they’re doing.

“The Joint List denies Israel as a Jewish state and supports the ‘right of return” to millions of Palestinians to Israel,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu slammed Blue and White for “throwing 2.5 million votes into the garbage” by supporting an anti-democratic retroactive law against me. Even Iran doesn’t do this,” the PM said. “In Iran, they ban candidates before the elections, not after.”

“The public will take revenge against those who break their campaign promises and advance anti-democratic laws,” the prime minister said.

“I want to promise you something. I’m not going anywhere,” Netanyahu asserted. “I’ll remain the leader of Likud.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)