Far-right leader backtracks on apparent willingness to join Gantz government

Union of Right Wing Parties chairman Rafi Peretz rules out joining a coalition led by the Blue and White party.

“The Blue and White party is leftist. Period. And that is the why we will never be able to join a government headed by it,” he tweets.

Peretz’s post also includes a video of the URWP leader describing the pain endured by Israelis such as himself during the 2005 Gaza Disengagement, drawing a parallel to the policies that he suggests Benny Gantz will work to carry out as prime minister.

Last week, Peretz spoke more positively of the former IDF chief of staff amid a stream of assaults from other right-wing politicians. “I wouldn’t dream of ruling him out,” he told Army Radio. “You can’t call a chief of staff ‘dangerous.’ He was my commander and he’s my friend. Politics don’t determine everything,” he said then.

— Jacob Magid