In his first interview since announcing the formation of a new party, former Yisrael Beytenu MK Eli Avidar tells Channel 12 that he plans to run until the end, even if that means his votes will be scattered among other parties if he fails to cross the electoral threshold.
“Even if we have half a mandate two days before elections, we will not bow out,” Avidar says.
He insists that he represents between a seat and a half and two seats of Israeli voters who protested regularly against former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and who will not vote for any other party in the anti-Netanyahu bloc due to their unfulfilled promises to pass legislation barring Netanyahu from running for office again.
Still, Avidar says he’ll do everything he can “not to waste votes.”
He also criticizes other parties in the anti-Netanyahu bloc who refuse to acknowledge that they’ll have to sit in a coalition with the Joint List if they want to form a coalition because the notion that the ultra-Orthodox parties will agree to join them is fantastical, according to Avidar.
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From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, August 2, 2022
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