Netanyahu: Shaked 'mumbling' on whether she'll back me

"That is why I say that if you want to be sure that I will continue to lead the State of Israel as prime minister, you must vote Likud," Netanyahu said.

By GIL HOFFMAN
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (photo credit: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
(photo credit: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked United Right leader Ayelet Shaked on Friday for not clearly saying in interviews with The Jerusalem Post and other publications that she will recommend to President Reuven Rivlin that he form the next government.
When asked who United Right will recommend to build a coalition, instead of saying Netanyahu outright, Shaked said: “We will recommend the leader of the Right, and right now that is Netanyahu.”
In a Facebook Live post, Netanyahu complained of hearing “stuttering from our colleagues on the Right.”
He said he has heard answers like, “Maybe yes, maybe at first, at the moment and other such words,” and expressed disappointment.
“That is why I say that if you want to be sure that I will continue to lead the State of Israel as prime minister, you must vote Likud,” Netanyahu added.
He warned against voting for Otzma Yehudit and Zehut, saying that votes worth seven seats were thrown away in the April election due to votes for parties that did not cross the electoral threshold.
“That is what makes the Likud smaller,” he said. “You want us to have 61 seats on the Right and also to have the Likud be larger.” But, he also said that votes for parties on the Right that will cross the threshold were still problematic.
Shaked responded with her own post on Facebook that her party “will recommend Netanyahu, but it depends on the government he forms.”
She referred to recent statements by Likud MK David Bitan – a close ally to the prime minister – that Benny Gantz’s Israel Resilience Party, which is part of Blue and White, could be a coalition partner for Likud.
“Instead of fighting with his natural partners, Netanyahu should focus his efforts on enlarging our political bloc – if a nationalist rightwing government is what he really wants,” Shaked said.
“Those who stutter over [former Netanyahu coalition partners Ehud] Barak, [Tzipi] Livni, [Isaac] Herzog and [Avi] Gabbay, and just had their people say they will go with Gantz, are in no place to scold the United Right. We are loyal to the Right and its values.”