Likud MK Nir Barkat publicly criticized Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for the first time on Moztei Shabbos in a Channel 12 News interview, saying that if he would have stepped down, a right-wing government would be sworn in on Sunday.
“I think that that the prime minister made a mistake in judgment,” Barkat said. “If he would have said that he’s stepping aside and called for primaries to lead the national camp, I think the national camp would have united around the selected candidate. If he would have allowed this, the Likud and the national camp would be forming a government on Sunday.”
At this point, Netanyahu has no plans to step aside and is continuing to lead the Likud and will serve as head of the opposition after the new government is sworn in.
“I announced that I would run [for Likud chairman] after the Netanyahu era and I’ll also win,” Barkat asserted. “I haven’t changed my mind. At the moment he decides to retire, I’ll be there and I’ll win.”
Barkat held a conference on Thursday night attended by 5,000 Likud activists.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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One Response
It is sort of unfair to ask boomers such as Netanyahu (or Trump, or Biden) to retire merely since the world has gone on and their continued insistence of running things is annoying the kinderlach who think its their turn to take over. Many people have a hard time facing the prospect of retirement, and if they happen to be in the business of running a nation-state, this can cause problems. It is hard for us boomers to admit that the world will keep on functioning without us.