The hero who refused Netanyahu’s slate: "The place that rotted on October 7"

Avidey Bachar, a resident of Be’eri who lost his son and wife on October 7, spoke today with Ron Kopman and Aryeh Eldad on their 103fm program regarding the framework of the Gaza agreement and his refusal to join the Likud party via Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s slate.

News 13 reported yesterday that Likud had offered Bachar a spot on their list, but he declined. It was also reported that Netanyahu attempted to add former Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon to the list, though that effort has not yet succeeded. Bachar stated: "There was a request for me to join, but I rejected it out of hand because I am not entering politics anywhere, and certainly not Likud—a place that rotted on October 7 and continues to break us apart to this day. I am not in politics right now; I am at home with my daughter, guarding her with all my strength and dedicating my time to her."

Regarding the Gaza agreement, he stated: "This is a very bad deal as long as they remain in the Strip. The massacre they carried out on October 7 must be remembered by them as a Nakba. This means they have no right to that land, and their position should be not to be there at all."

He continued: "Until now, Hamas was an asset; suddenly, Bibi is protecting Hamas again. I don’t understand where that comes from. This is simply catastrophic; if they have been abandoning us in small ways until now, this agreement is the final nail in Israel’s coffin."

Bachar expressed anger, noting: "Hamas is not disarming. They have an insane motivation to destroy us, and they are not hiding it; they say it openly in the streets. We keep thinking they will like us, but that will not happen."

"I look at the world, and it doesn’t know where Israel is. We are not that interesting to everyone, but I wish we were interesting to ourselves, because we are not," he criticized. "Today, we have more compassion for the terrorists in Gaza than for ourselves. We must send a message to the world that they cannot stay in the Strip. If they stay, we will destroy it. Look at what is happening with Iran: the United States sets clear boundaries, and that is what determination looks like. The question is who blinks first. If Israel is determined and says, 'They are not staying here, otherwise we will send them to the sea or to Egypt,' the world will mobilize to take them, preventing us from having to destroy them."

"We wanted the hostages back, and I salute that we got them all. But I do not believe Hamas militants will lay down their weapons, and I do not believe the IDF can keep me safe 4 kilometers from the fence," he added.

He concluded: "Israel should not wait; it should enter Gaza tomorrow, throw everyone out, and tell the world to take them or we will send them to the sea. That is the situation. The children in Gaza born after 2014 are the ones who murdered and ruined my life; why should I have compassion? Expel them, because the child born there tomorrow will not be a Zionist, but a terrorist. Israel must be determined with all its might so they remember October 7 as their Nakba."