Yamina Party leader Ayelet Shaked said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is purposefully trying to weaken the right-wing union and take its voters, and that if he succeeds he will establish a government with the Blue and White Party instead of with the right wing. “If we only have five or six seats, then it is reasonable to assume that he’ll invite [Blue and White leader Benny] Gantz into his government,” Shaked said at the Maariv-Jerusalem Post conference in Tel Aviv on Wednesday. She also said that Netanyahu’s statement Tuesday night declaring his intention to annex the Jordan Valley after the elections was essentially a call to Blue and White to join his government, since that party has also declared its intent to preserve Israeli control of the Jordan Valley.console.log("catid body is "+catID);if(catID==120){document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none";var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://player.anyclip.com/anyclip-widget/lre-widget/prod/v1/src/lre.js'; script.setAttribute('pubname','jpostcom'); script.setAttribute('widgetname','0011r00001lcD1i_12258'); document.getElementsByClassName('divAnyClip')[0].appendChild(script);}else if(catID!=69 && catID!=2){ document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none"; var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://static.vidazoo.com/basev/vwpt.js'; script.setAttribute('data-widget-id','60fd6becf6393400049e6535'); document.getElementsByClassName('divVidazoo')[0].appendChild(script); }“Gantz and his party do not oppose applying sovereignty over the Jordan Valley, [and] Netanyahu said that he wanted to form a government that would implement the Trump plan,” Shaked said, implying that Blue and White could also form a government with the Likud to carry out the annexation of the Jordan Valley while also acquiescing to the establishment of a Palestinian state, which Yamina opposes.The former justice minister said that the central question of the election was whether or not Netanyahu “will form a left-wing government with Gantz and [Labor-Gesher leader] Amir Peretz or with us and the right wing.”Shaked also called on right-wing voters who would naturally vote for the religious-Zionist parties which comprise the Yamina union to “not fall for [Netanyahu’s] bluff about [Likud] being the biggest party.” The Yamina leader was referencing the prime minister’s urgent calls on right-wing voters to vote for Likud so that it will be the biggest party and therefore be given the first opportunity by the president to form a government.“Don’t fall for the bluff of the biggest party. It is the number of recommendations which each candidate gets which is important,” Shaked implored right-wing voters.
