Gilad Erdan: "There will be mergers and changes before the elections"

Former Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan, who announced last week the establishment of a new party together with another Likud defector, Yuli Edelstein, said this morning (Sunday) in an interview with 103FM that he estimates there will be more mergers and changes before the lists are closed.

"It is not true that there are only four or five mandates in this area. According to all the research and checks, we are talking about a magnitude of ten mandates. If there is public understanding that a narrow government is a great damage for the coming years, this potential will also grow," said Erdan.

Erdan confirmed that he received a direct approach from a senior figure in the Prime Minister's circle. "About a week ago, a conversation took place with me on this subject," he revealed. "I, of course, do not intend to tell the details, but it is one of the people close to the Prime Minister. I made it clear that this is not on the agenda and that I am leading an independent path."

To the interviewers' question of whether the offer also included a senior position alongside the place on the list, Erdan replied: "I commit that it was a very senior and significant person who spoke about a very high reserved spot in the Likud. But I was elected five times in the Likud in the top three places from 2006 to 2019. That is not the point. The point is the influence and the ability to lead a change in the country to bring about a broad Zionist government, and that is the only thing that interests me. Not the place and not the position."

During the interview, Erdan addressed the criticism voiced against him from the right and the left, and the claims that he serves as a "proxy" for Netanyahu. "It was expected," he said with a chuckle. "When you actually say that you are not going to crown any side here to rule alone and do what it wants, but that the other side must also be considered, you are attacked by both sides. On the right side, which I am part of, they will say all kinds of delusions, even though everyone knows my past and that I never zigzagged. I am a right-wing person from the days of the struggle against the disengagement from Gush Katif and even before that in the struggle against Oslo. On the left side, they will say what you said. But again, if I wanted to be someone's proxy, I would have stayed in the safe place, which is the Likud, and waited for the upcoming elections."

Only one goal: a broad Zionist government

The announcement of the establishment of a new party, whose name he promised to reveal soon, was not easily accepted for someone who grew up in the Likud movement. "It was a very difficult personal decision for me to leave the Likud after thirty years," Erdan shared his feelings. "It is not a small matter. I truly love the Likud activists and the Likud voters with all my heart. But when you realize that the elected officials in the Likud, or the path of the Likud today in my eyes, is missing the mark and does not represent what most of the people, including Likud voters, expect, I felt that I could not continue to be part of it."

Erdan detailed the core issues that led to the rift, led by the issue of equality in the burden. "I must lead a change and ensure that there is a broad Zionist government in Israel," he emphasized. When the presenters asked if the criticism of the Likud's path is actually directed at the path of the party chairman Benjamin Netanyahu, Erdan chose to focus on ideology and not on personalization. "It matters less, I try not to turn disagreements and struggles into personal ones, but into struggles over a path, over values, and over norms," he explained.

"As a right-wing person all my life, I believe that what the right wants to see is that every citizen in Israel will serve in the IDF or in national service," declared Erdan. "I think they want to see respect and mutual dignity also towards those we disagree with, because in the end, our message after October 7 is that the disagreements between us are not that big. Our enemies see us the same way, and we must do everything to reduce disagreement and sit and govern together. If we can fight in Kibbutz Be'eri together, settlers, right and left, religious and secular, we can also manage the country together."