Regev eyes Cabinet post

Likud MK slams both Livni and Lapid for roles in now-dissolved government.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Likud MK Miri Regev (photo credit: TOVAH LAZAROFF)
Likud MK Miri Regev
(photo credit: TOVAH LAZAROFF)
Likud MK Miri Regev plans "to build up the nation" if she becomes the next Construction and Housing Minister, a top position she’s "very interested in" going into the general election set for March 17.
Regev, a former chief IDF Spokesperson, landed the number 5 slot on the Likud’s Knesset candidates list in Wednesday’s primaries, making her the top-ranking woman in the party. Placement on the prestigious list, however, does not affect ministerial appointments, sources close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have said.
Regev told Israel Radio on Friday that she would fight for affordable housing for Israel's young couples, "a day after Netanyahu is elected prime minister." But she also aims to "build up the nation" electorally, not just territorially – promising that the Likud will form "the best government" after the election.
She said that over the past two years, she and the premier have worked "quite well" together, and that would continue in the future.
She also blasted comments by Yesh Atid leader and former Finance Minister Yair Lapid, who described Netanyahu's "hedonism" as corrupt and unsustainable. She outlined Lapid’s failures and said he "should be the last person to talk." 
Regev said Lapid busies himself "smoking cigars at up-scale cafés," a direct counter-attack on the ousted minister who a day earlier blasted Netanyahu for "ordering pistachio ice cream to his home from the public purse."
Lapid has done nothing to tackle the high cost of living in the country, the Likud MK said, accusing him of "buying voters" by falsely promising "things that never happened." "Yair Lapid is heading for a downfall," Regev said, adding that "all these 'hip' parties" which present themselves to the public as "stars" are not the answer.
Hatnua chairwoman Tzipi Livni, described in the interview as a woman who "ruins any party she joins," fell under this category. Livni, who was fired by Netanyahu from her post of justice minister, "was in charge of negotiations [with the Palestinians], but achieved nothing in that position" and only now understands that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is not a partner for peace.
Regev is well-known for her provocative statements towards Israel's minorities, most famously her comparison of Sudanese migrants to a "cancer in the body.” She has described Arab Knesset members as Trojan horses and has backed and drafted highly-controversial legislation.
The firebrand Regev has also publicly criticized Netanyahu time and again, and sources close to the prime minister say he is disappointed with her rise in the ranks of the Likud.