Karhi goes on the offensive: "Eisenkot was a bad Chief of Staff"

Communications Minister Dr. Shlomo Karhi (Likud) spoke with Erel Segal and Eyal Berkovic on 103fm radio about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's role in the failures of October 7th, and about the figures running against him in the opposition and in the coalition.

Minister Karhi does not think the Prime Minister should resign following the events of October 7th - on the contrary. "The Prime Minister corrected the intelligence and military failures that existed before October 7th and brought us from the depths of despair to the heights," he claimed. "What do you want, for him to abandon the State of Israel? On October 7th, we were at the lowest point the State of Israel has ever been since its founding. We are the government that succeeded, after the greatest shock, to restore the deterrent power of the State of Israel, to bring the USA to fight with us shoulder to shoulder."

Regarding reports that senior Likud members tried to replace the Prime Minister at the beginning of the war, he said: "I heard there was such a move. It was a known move, and I told the Prime Minister what I heard at the time."

In the same breath, he sharply attacked what he sees as the alternative: "I cannot understand how, after October 7th, one can give power to those who call IDF soldiers 'baby killers as a hobby', or to those who hug terrorists, or to Mansour Abbas - how can one give them power?" he wondered. "I cannot understand this paradox."

"Eisenkot wore the uniform of the 'Brothers in Arms' refusal"

He did not spare criticism for Gadi Eisenkot either. "This people is wise, the people is wise and is not afraid of Eisenkot. If you had put Eisenkot in, we would be today with Hezbollah and Nasrallah. I think he was a bad Chief of Staff. Eisenkot wanted to surrender to Hamas, he compared a Golani fighter to a terror supporter. Do you know why soldiers didn't shoot? They remembered Elor Azaria, they remembered who persecuted Elor Azaria - and the one who persecuted him was Gadi Eisenkot. Eisenkot wore the uniform of the 'Brothers in Arms' refusal."

"If the Prime Minister had offered me a reserved spot - I would have been very insulted"

Later, Karhi was asked about the turmoil in his party, against the backdrop of the many reserved spots for the party list on behalf of Netanyahu. "If the Prime Minister had approached me and offered me a reserved spot - I would have been very insulted. I don't need the protective umbrella of a reserved spot," he said.

Karhi added: "I worked very hard, I was at the forefront of the fight against the 'deep state', the propaganda media, and the rule of the jurists who are trying to steal the mandate from the people. I am going to the public on Monday and asking for their trust. Reserved spots for Knesset members and senior ministers are, in my opinion, ridiculous and insulting to those who cannot come to the voter and ask for trust anew."