Former Netanyahu confidant, Elkin ditches Likud and defects to Sa'ar
"You destroyed the Likud party and brought into it an atmosphere of a platform for serving you," Elkin said.
By GIL HOFFMANIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with member of the Knesset for Likud Zeev Elkin as they attend the swearing-in ceremony of the 22nd Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem October 3, 2019.(photo credit: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suffered two blows on the first day of the election campaign on Wednesday, when Yamina leader Naftali Bennett announced his run for the premiership and Higher Education Minister Ze'ev Elkin quit the government and the Knesset to join prime ministerial candidate Gideon Sa'ar's New Hope Party.Both Bennett and Elkin are top religious Zionist figures, who have been very close to the prime minister, but criticized him fiercely on Wednesday. Bennett was his chief of staff and Elkin was his coalition chairman, envoy to Russian president Vladimir Putin and the head of the Likud's coalition negotiating team. "You destroyed the Likud party and brought into it an atmosphere of a platform for serving you, flattery to you and fear to express criticism," Elkin said in his speech, which was delivered as an address to Netanyahu himself. "You destroyed the democracy in the Likud Party."Elkin repeatedly referred to "the people around" Netanyahu in his criticism, referring to the prime minister's wife and son. He said the last three elections have only been initiated due to the prime minister's legal cases."Unfortunately, over the past two years and especially recently, personal considerations and the caprices of the close people around him are playing more and more of a role in his decision-making, which is critical for the State of Israel and its citizens," Elkin said. "As someone who sees this dangerous process from up close, I see his personal considerations join our national considerations and trump them more and more."Elkin warned that Bennett would join a Netanyahu-led government again out of what he called a "battered wife syndrome."Noting that Elkin started his political career in Kadima, the Likud called Sa'ar's party "a refugee camp full of deserters who failed in democratic elections in Likud."
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