Bennett: ‘Unity gov’t better than fifth elections’

“There’s no right wing government,” said Bennett. “It’s either fifth elections or a unity government.”

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Yemina party head Naftali Bennett officially announced on Sunday evening his intention to enter a coalition with Yesh Atid chair Yair Lapid in order to form a unity government.

The unity government, which has also been referred to as the change bloc, would be composed of parties spanning the left, center-left, and right.

During his speech, he blasted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for what he called a divide-and-conquer approach to governing the country, accusing the premier of “working to drive fear into the hearts of the public.”

“Two-thousand years ago, we lost a Jewish nation here because of infighting. That’s not happening again. Not on my watch,” Bennett said during his speech.

“We can go to fifth, sixth, tenth elections…until our house falls on us.Or we can stop the madness and take responsibility.”

Bennett said Netanyahu’s claim that a right-wing government was possible as a “complete lie.”

“There’s no right wing government,” he said. “It’s either fifth elections or a unity government.”

He called Netanyahu’s last-minute proposal of a three-man rotation impossible, because “nobody believes in his promises.”

Slamming Netanyahu, Bennett said the premier was not trying to do the right thing for the country. “He’s trying to take this nation down with him in his own private Masada,” he said.

He listed recent crises, including the Mount Meron disaster and widespread Arab riots throughout Israel, and alleged that Netanyahu and his government had “run away from responsibility” for these events.

Acknowledging the likelihood that Yemina party voters will feel betrayed by his decision to join forces with left-wing parties, Bennett promised that each side was making serious sacrifices in order to create a viable government.

“This government will be more right-wing than the current one,” he claimed.

He said that partnering with the left would not cause the government to drag its feet at a time when a military operation would be needed, adding that each side has veto power over a number of hot button issues.

Bennett said that he and his “friend” Lapid disagreed on a number of issues, but both “share a love for this country.”

“If we succeed, we’ll have done something huge for Israel,” Bennett said. “If not, we’ll know that we did everything we possibly could.”