In tapes, Shaked calls Netanyahus “dictators” with “a thirst for power”

In explosive tapes, Shaked calls Netanyahu ‘tyrants’ with ‘thirst for power’

Channel 12 broadcasts explosive tapes of MP Yamina Ayelet Shaked, in which she calls Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara “dictators” and “tyrants” with a “thirst for power,” and says he only cares about his ongoing corruption trial. .

The recordings come as Netanyahu tried to lure Yamina into a right-wing coalition, his deadline to form a government set to expire tomorrow night.

“Because of his trial, he will move even further to the right,” Shaked has heard of Netanyahu. ” It’s the opposite of [former prime minister Ariel] Sharon [who moved from right to center as prime minister]. It’s true that the only thing that interests him now is his trial. He doesn’t care about anything else. It’s true… all his considerations, his behavior, his management, everything revolves around his trial, ”we heard in excerpts from Channel 12.

“It is true that he [Netanyahu] Must go. He has to go. But I told Gideon [Sa’ar], there is a country [to run]. And now ? You’re gonna build this absurd coalition, with this and that [party], because he has to go? she continued, referring to negotiations aimed at establishing a coalition of right-wing, centrist and left-wing parties with the aim of replacing Netanyahu.

Shaked stresses that she seeks to prevent the formation of such a government. But she says Yamina will ally with Yesh leader Atid Yair Lapid and establish a coalition if the only alternative is the fifth round of elections in just two years.

Left: Yamina party leader Naftali Bennett gives a press conference in the Knesset in Jerusalem on April 21, 2021; Right: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a press conference at the Knesset in Jerusalem, April 21, 2021 (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)

“He [Netanyahu] has 30 places. Look, he’s scared to ask for forgiveness and a plea bargaining process, because he’s scared of it. He’s afraid he’ll eventually have to plead guilty and that won’t work… After all, he’s a very paranoid man. So he’s afraid of it, ”we hear Shaked say.

“As for the presidency, he wants to stay in power. He thirsts for power – him and his wife. They are like tyrants. Like dictators. They are not ready to step aside. We are not like that.

Shaked further argues that if Bennett gets the approval of right-wing lawmakers to form a government, “he won’t go left.” She also expresses her confidence that if Bennett gets the mandate, he will be able to bring Blue and White leader Benny Gantz into a right-wing government.

Shaked says Yamina is looking to strike a deal with Netanyahu that Bennett will become prime minister for a year and a half, rather than the year offered by the Likud leader.

New Hope President Gideon Sa’ar leads a faction meeting in the Knesset on April 26, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)

She also describes Likud’s alleged attempts to bolster Saar of New Hope into a government.

“The Likud offered to pay Saar’s debts… they really pressed him. i sat with him [Sa’ar] For hours. First of all, he’s right: Netanyahu must go. He’s right, but what can you do? So i tell her [Sa’ar], there is a framework according to which he will not be one year old [as prime minister at the start of a new coalition], and we will limit its mandate [later in the coalition]… This will be his last term. So live with one more term…. Gideon and Yvet [Liberman] really thinks Netanyahu is a danger to the State of Israel. They are convinced of it… We do not think so.

She also says that religious Zionist leader Bezalel Smotrich, if he really cared about the state, would work with Yamina to avoid a government dependent on Islamist Ra’am. Smotrich pays less attention to rabbis than Yamina, she says.

Moreover, now that Netanyahu has “hid” the Arabs, no one will have a problem forming a government with them. This is the great damage that has already been done, ”she said, apparently referring to Netanyahu’s willingness to rely on Ra’am’s support.