Amit Halevi tried to project business as usual - Ron Koffman didn't buy it: "Do you feel betrayed?"

The Likud primaries have ended, and quite a few MKs from the party will find themselves outside the next Knesset. MK Amit Halevi (Likud), who reached an unrealistic spot in the primaries according to polls, spoke with Ron Koffman and Ronen Tzur on 103fm and shared his feelings in light of the result and the sense of missed opportunity.

"I received almost 22,000 votes, there was no district candidate in the history of Likud who received such an amount of votes when moving to the national level," Halevi said proudly. Furthermore, he thanked the voters and admitted that for him, the primaries were an especially festive day: "It is one of the most fun days of my life. There is an opportunity for an elected official to meet in a relatively short time with a mass of the broad public, I saw it directly, you see what Likud members care about."

Koffman was not impressed by MK Halevi's words and claimed that he is hiding his true feelings: "Almog Cohen didn't meet anyone, the Prime Minister supported him and he entered the 8th spot."

MK Halevi replied: "I am not saying that the Prime Minister's support has no weight, I also don't say there are no deals, I only say that there are very many free votes. Amichai Chikli received 28,000 votes. I also received 22,000 votes. It's a lot in Likud terms. There are now reserved spots, and therefore it was pushed to the 33rd spot. Getting the 19th spot in Likud is not losing."

Later, MK Halevi and Ron Koffman got into a confrontation on the issue of reserved spots. "I supported reducing the reserved spots, I really didn't like it, I didn't agree to the reserved spot for Israel Katz, the 9th spot, I opposed it because I think the majority should be in the primaries. Regarding Gideon Sa'ar, there was an agreement by the party even before that..."

Koffman mocked and claimed that MK Halevi should have come to his senses earlier: "You bought a traitor, won't you pay? You wanted a traitor. He took your spot. You knew that the party chairman sold you out."

MK Halevi claimed that his political place was never at the top of his priorities: "I am very worried about the future of the country. One of the saddest days of this term for me was that Yair Lapid did not join the coalition after October 7th. I was sure that after the day of the catastrophe, there would be no coalition and no opposition."

Koffman burst out in response: "We saw what you did to Benny Gantz and Eisenkot. You wiped the floor with them. Everyone who joined Benjamin Netanyahu got a knife in the back. Gantz got the knife twice and Eisenkot once."

MK Halevi responded: "They left because they thought about toppling the government." Koffman clarified that Netanyahu was not a reliable partner: "Of course, the man is paranoid, all the time they want to topple him."

Finally, Ronen Tzur asked about MK Halevi's feelings: "Loyalty in politics is supposed to be two-sided. The greatest loyalists: Karhi, Bismut, Gamliel, Boaron, and also you, were pushed outside the realistic spot. Doesn't that make you feel betrayed?"

MK Halevi replied: "I tried very hard to be loyal to the values of Likud, to be loyal to the fundamental positions, to the national and liberal values of our movement, that is loyalty from my point of view, nothing else, no personalization, I didn't see it that way, I criticized as is known during this term when it was necessary to criticize."