Hours before Knesset dissolution, PM blames Blue and White, predicts ‘huge win’

Hailing his own achievements on the coronavirus pandemic and forging new peace deals, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists he did everything to prevent fresh elections but promises his party will have “a huge win.”

“I didn’t want elections. Likud didn’t want elections. We voted again and again against elections,” he asserts. “Benny Gantz walked back his agreements with us.”

The prime minister, who is on trial on corruption charges, says Gantz “insisted on letting [Justice Minister Avi] Nissenkorn continue the dictatorship of leftist officials” in the justice system.

Gantz reportedly walked back an agreement to curb Nissenkorn’s powers after realizing his party would not back the move.

“Likud will bring ‘a huge win’ in the elections that are expected to be held on March 23, Netanyahu says. “Most Israelis recognize our leadership and huge achievements,” he adds, citing the success in securing vaccines for Israel, recent normalization deals with Arab countries and a strong economy.

He claims that “the decision in these elections [is] clear: Either a government dependent on [opposition leader Yair] Lapid and the left or a true right-wing government.”