Gilad Erdan criticizes Likud: "Influenced by self-interested considerations"

Former Israeli Ambassador to the UN and the USA Gilad Erdan spoke this morning (Monday) with Ben Caspit and Moshe Klughaft on 103fm about the motives for establishing his new party 'Achdut' (Unity) together with Knesset member Yuli Edelstein. Erdan addressed the situation of the Likud party and the reasons that led him to leave its ranks.

"I never mock the primaries in Likud, I think it is an important process," Erdan clarified at the beginning of his remarks.

"Unfortunately, in recent years, the considerations among Likud members, and many who joined out of self-interested considerations, are influenced by workers' committees and more. Therefore, I do not regret it. This is a process that ruling parties go through after quite a few years, when elements that are less connected to the original ideology join in order to influence decisions."

Later, Erdan explained his decision to go an independent path: "I dreamed one day of leading the Likud movement in order to fix and shape the country in the way I believe in. Over the years, I understood that the country will not wait for my personal ambitions, and if I continue to wait in Likud, it may be that we will not have a country left. I decided to take action because I see how hundreds of thousands of families in Israel are torn apart by the division and internal rift."

"A narrow, blackmailed and controlled government"

Erdan harshly criticized the possibility of establishing a narrow center-left government, and took a jab at Knesset member Chili Tropper: "Chili Tropper is a worthy person, but his goal is to be part of Gadi Eizenkot's bloc, even if it means that it will be a narrow government whose positions are controlled by Yair Golan and his radical list. Any narrow government is blackmailed and controlled by radical elements, it does not matter if it is Itamar Ben Gvir, Goldknopf, or Yair Golan. The 'Achdut' party will not join any narrow government, not from the right and not from the left."

Regarding the establishment of a commission of inquiry for the events of October 7, Erdan presented a complex position: "I support the establishment of a real and independent commission that can investigate the political level, the military level, and the legal level as well. There is no legal obligation for a state commission of inquiry, it can also be an independent government commission of inquiry that the government will appoint, provided that its composition earns public trust. I saw in the cabinet during Operation Protective Edge how the judicial system prevented the IDF from bombing suspicious buildings, and therefore it too must be examined."

At the end of the interview, Erdan refused to place the full responsibility for the failure solely on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "I do not think there is a difference between Netanyahu, Gadi Eizenkot, and Naftali Bennett in the level of their responsibility, each in his position," he stated. "Whether it is as Chief of Staff, as Prime Minister, or as a Knesset member - they all erred in the concept of containment towards Hamas. The people will choose who will lead us in the coming years, and I will act so that it is done with broad consensus."