Gal Baysberg was Naftali Bennett’s media adviser in the last elections but left before the campaign was over. In an explosive interview with Channel 13 News on Motzei Shabbos, he revealed why he left.

Baysberg said that Bennett, who claimed he joined Lapid out of a lack of choice due to the political stalemate, had planned to join Yair Lapid and become prime minister long before the election outcome was known.

“The political deal was forged during the campaign,” Baysberg said. “I was told that even with five seats, Bennett would be prime minister. Bennett knew long before. Even when Bennett sat in the Channel 14 studio and signed a letter pledging not to sit with Lapid, he knew it wasn’t true.”

“There was no ideology in this campaign. They denied it in public and planned it in closed rooms.”

Baysberg, who believes in a right-wing government, said that he parted ways with Bennett when he realized what was going on. “I and Naftali parted when I realized that my right-wing strategic plan wouldn’t materialize – and he knew he was going to be prime minister with five seats.”

Baysberg said that doesn’t know whether Ayelet Shaked was aware of the plan since he was hired by Bennett.

Later, after Naftali Bennett denied his remarks, Baysberg wrote on social media: “You won’t hear me talk about my clients in the media, neither in the present nor in the past. I don’t have any clients who are just another retainer for profit. I choose them all carefully out of identification with the person, the ideology, the message, and the values. Each one immediately becomes part of my extended family, enters my heart, and I fight for them as if I was fighting for my brother. The same was true of Naftali Bennett and Yamina, whom I accompanied in the last election campaign.”

“I approached this campaign from the ideology of the national camp, and following many conversations I identified Naftali Bennett as someone who can lead the Israeli right-wing camp. The comprehensive strategic plan I prepared for him appealed to the right-wing electorate and was intended to strengthen his stance among voters who were hoping for a full right-wing government in the next Knesset.

“But then, as the campaign continued, I recognized that I was continuing to forge ahead while the client for whom I was fighting was beginning to deviate to the left. At that moment, our paths parted. I approached this task as a campaigner for the national camp, not for someone who came to serve as prime minister at any cost, and I have remained so to this day.

“Today I was invited to Channel 13 News as a commentator for the upcoming election campaign. I was asked about Bennett’s path to power and answered, as always, the truth. What I said was the truth. I am a man of truth, and will remain so for the rest of my life.

“My clients know this, journalists know this, and all the politicians who are truthful know this. In the upcoming election campaign, I will do everything, as always, for the national camp – and that stealing votes in a shady political plan, as happened last time, will not happen again.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)