As he positions himself to succeed Prime Minister Netanyahu as Likud leader, MK Nir Barkat takes a shot at the premier as the ruling party is set to lose power after its chief held the premiership for over 12 straight years.
“The prime minister erred in his considerations. If the prime minister had said, ‘I’m stepping aside,’ and sought to hold primaries for the leadership of the national camp, my assessment is that the national camp would have unified behind the [winning] candidate,” Barkat tells Channel 12 news in an interview broadcast this evening.
Barkat adds: “He got his considerations wrong because if he had enabled this [primaries vote], the Likud and the national camp would have been forming the government on Sunday.”
The interview was filmed Thursday evening when Barkat hosted an event for 4,000 party activists in what was seen as a show of strength. Barkat, a former Jerusalem mayor, called during the event for leadership primaries to be delayed.
Barkat also tells Channel 12 that he will run for Likud leader when Netanyahu steps down and vows he will win the race.
Likud MK Nir Barkat speaks at a party conference in Tel Aviv on June 10, 2021. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
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