Shaked vows to be justice minister in next government

Former justice minister opens fire on successor Amir Ohana.

By GIL HOFFMAN
Ayelet Shaked (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Ayelet Shaked
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Former justice minister Ayelet Shaked intends to return to the ministry in the next year, she said Sunday at the Jerusalem Post Conference in New York, revealing her political intentions for the near future.
Shaked declined to say what party she will run with in the September 17 election, but she made a point of praising her former New Right partner Naftali Bennett and speaking about the need for a large party on the Right.
“I am not ruling out anything that can help create a big Right bloc,” Shaked said.
Ayelet Shaked talks on stage about upcoming Israeli elections, 8th annual Jerusalem Post Conference, New York
She said the current election was a major challenge for the Right, which she said needed to decide its future responsibly. She said she would “probably” run, leaving open the door to sitting the race out, joining Likud and waiting for the chance to run after the 30-month membership requirement passes.
In her first response to interim justice minister Amir Ohana’s suggestion that not all Supreme Court rulings needed to be obeyed, she said it was acceptable to criticize the court but suggested that Ohana had gone too far.
“Israel is a democracy, not an anarchy,” Shaked said. “It is among 21 countries founded as democracies. The Israeli government and its citizens must obey the rulings of the Supreme Court, even if they disagree with them, just like the laws of the Knesset.”
The Justice Ministry will be a political hot potato for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he forms the next government. In addition to Shaked, the portfolio will be demanded by Ohana, current Tourism Minister Yariv Levin and Union of Right-Wing Parties MK Bezalel Smotrich.
On diplomatic issues, Shaked praised the Trump administration’s recent steps and said she hoped the administration would cooperate with Israel in annexing Area C in Judea and Samaria in the near future.
“I hope we will be part of the government, and we will do it together,” she said.
Netanyahu will meet on Monday with URP leaders Rafi Peretz and Smotrich. Channel 12 reported that they would become cabinet ministers on Monday.
The news channel also reported that sources in Likud were reconsidering a decision not to give Shaked a reserved slot on the party’s list, because including her in Likud would prevent her from voting against giving Netanyahu immunity from prosecution.


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