Bennett says New Right to run in elections, doesn’t mention Shaked

Hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired him as education minister, Naftali Bennett says his New Right party will run in general elections on September 17, after it failed to secure enough votes to enter the Knesset in April’s elections.

In a televised statement outside his home in Ra’anana, Bennett strikes an optimistic tone, vowing to assist whoever replaces him as Education Minister in order to ensure a smooth transition.

Turning to the upcoming elections, which were called after Netanyahu failed to form a government following elections in April, Bennett says a fresh vote “is not a happy outcome, but there is an opportunity here for all of us to approach it more wisely, more seriously, more modestly. That also goes for me too.”

“The New Right will bring a line up of the right-wing statesmen and women, which unites all parts of the nation: religious and secular,” he says. “The New Right will be a party that does not compromise on its positions, but will not engage in quarrels with the left.”

Bennett does not mention his longtime political partner Ayelet Shaked, who was fired today from the Justice Ministry.

The two are set to meet later this evening along with other party activists, according to Hebrew media reports.