Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a range of issues in a live Channel 14 broadcast on Friday, chief among them the approaching election, infighting within the right-wing bloc and the cost of living. He sharply criticized Amcha Yisrael chairman Ofer Winter and also weighed in on Gadi Eisenkot’s chances of forming a government.
“Winter worships Liberman. He wants to take votes from the right and hand them to the left,” Netanyahu said of the Amcha Yisrael leader. He also responded to claims by Winter’s candidates that he had initially wanted them in Likud and only turned his fire on them after they chose to run with Winter. “If they had come to us, the doubts would have been resolved,” he replied.
The prime minister also turned to Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot, arguing that even the polls published by the media show Eisenkot unable to form a government. “Even by the inflated numbers of the panic channels, Eisenkot has no way to form a government,” he said. On the economy, Netanyahu pledged to bring down the cost of living by taking on the monopolies: “I will smash the monopolies once and for all and lower the cost of living.”
Netanyahu also addressed tensions on the international front, claiming that Iran and its proxies are seeking to stage provocations ahead of the election. During the broadcast he criticized the news page Push, alleging that its staff “work for whoever pays them, including Ben Gvir.” The claim is Netanyahu’s own, and no evidence was presented to support it. He also spoke directly to his voters about remarks made against them: “They call us ‘baboons, a herd.’ Don’t let them look down on you.”