Ha’am Itanu chairperson MK Eli Yishai held a conference for his new party on Thursday night at the Kise Rahamim Yeshiva in Bnei Brak headed by Rabbi Meir Mazuz, Yishai’s rabbinic counsel.
Hundreds of students of the yeshiva took part in the conference, in which Yishai said “a message comes out from here this evening. There are no hareidim, no srugim (religious Zionists), no Ashkenazim, no Sephardim – we are all Jews. There are no ethnic groups; the tribes of Israel are together.”
“We will be the strong hand on the shoulder of the next government,” pledged Yishai. “The hand that prevents giving up territories. The hand that prevents releasing terrorists. The hand that prevents a building freeze.”
According to Yishai, Ha’am Itanu is a “political revolution. A social revolution. A moral revolution. Our goal is to sanctify the Holy Name and to bring a true message that we will be able to truly realize.”
The comments about being a “strong hand” in the next government support statements by sources close to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu indicating that he is keen to cooperate with Yishai and block Shas, whose head Aryeh Deri has expressed support for a Labor government.
If Yishai were to join Netanyahu’s Likud in a hypothetical coalition, his comments suggest he would demand an end to the ongoing covert building freeze in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem.
There have been calls for Yishai to run jointly with former MK Dr. Michael Ben-Ari’s Otzma Yehudit. Ben-Ari has been adamant about not joining a coalition without clear red lines set on issues such as those raised by Yishai.
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