Chairman of the Yachad party, former MK and minister Eli Yishai, spoke with Srugim News regarding an initiative of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to reduce the threshold to enter Knesset, citing he does not understand Aryeh Deri’s insistence on opposing the move.

In a conversation with Srugim, Yishai said that “in my opinion this is a move that was not implemented at the end. Deri will threaten, the idea will come off the agenda and in the end, he will not pass the existing threshold.”

Yishai said, “Our situation is good, and we will be in an even better situation, an important step not only for me, but also for the Arabs not to receive 13 seats again.”

The first assessments are that Netanyahu is doing this for Eli Yishai. “Netanyahu is doing this not only for me, but also for Shas, which for a long time has been on the verge of not meeting the minimum threshold in election polls. I cannot understand why Deri objects to this move. Shas is very important, and days will tell what will happen to it in the end.”

Srugim:

So what do you actually say? That Deri is willing to take risks without meeting the minimum threshold, for the main thing is that you, Eli Yishai, will not be in the government?

Yishai:

“The answer is unequivocally yes, he [Deri] must run after this bill as he apparently does not want Eli Yishai. ”

Srugim:

Can you really imagine a scenario in which Shas does not pass the threshold?

Yishai:

“Look, Shas is very dear to me despite the political rivalry against Deri, and I hope that will not happen. But we have to know that it was Deri’s behavior that brought Shas to this situation, and I do not worry about the Yachad party, after surveys we did and after the last few weeks, I think we will get 6-7 Knesset seats. In order to prevent the strengthening of the Arab party.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)