Friday, July 12: Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund’s fourth ‘Local KKL-JNF Friday’ event took place at the Idan Center’s Zeidan Auditorium in the Emek HaMaayanot Regional Council in northern Israel, with Channel 13 News journalist Akiva Novick as moderator. His guests were MK Ram Ben-Barak of Blue and White, who talked about the new party’s preparations for a second round of elections within the space of just a few months, and MK Eli Avidar of Yisrael Beitenu, who described his party’s tactics for battling the ultra-orthodox factions in the upcoming election.
Emek HaMaayanot Regional Council Chairman Yoram Karin opened the event with warm greetings, followed by Gil Atzmon, Director of KKL-JNF’s Lower Galilee Region, who spoke about the organization’s work in
strengthening the area.
MK Ram Ben-Barak of the new centrist party Blue and White was the first interviewee on stage. When Akiva Novick asked him about his appointment to head his party’s efforts to attract the Arab vote, he replied: “I want to ensure that there will be true equality between Arabs and Jews in this country, and, along the way, I want to win their votes. There’s a lunatic fringe in this country that thinks there should be two different classes of people here, but most of the right is in favor of equality and doesn’t want to see first- and second-class citizens. And yes, in the future we have to have an Arab MK in Blue and White.”
Regarding PM Netanyahu, who has been branded as ’Mr. Security’, MK Ben-Barak said: “Netanyahu is a world champion at creating images that have nothing behind them. He is capable of standing on a podium, inquiring: ‘No lefties here?’ and then removing his protective Kevlar vest, saying that there is no need to fear that anyone will harm him; he must have forgotten that it was right-wingers who assassinated a prime minister and threw a grenade at a Peace Now demonstration. Netanyahu is a very talented man, very smart, with a lot of experience, but his security-related decisions over the years have been less than brilliant. His policy of frightening us with tales of how we are about to be exterminated is wrong and completely divorced from reality. Netanyahu’s last five years as prime minister were appalling. He made mistakes on every issue. His most obvious error was creating a division between his camp and the opposing camp: a prime minister cannot take sides like that. He dissolved the Knesset in a manner that, though legal, was nonetheless dubious, because he knew that Benny Gantz [Blue and White Chairman] would form a government without him.”
When asked about MK “Bogie” Yaalon’s critical comments on the rotation between Gantz and Lapid, MK Ben-Barak replied, “Bogie retracted his remarks and has said since that Yair Lapid would make an excellent prime minister. Gantz and Lapid brought us thirty-five seats, and we hope that now they’ll bring us forty. Lapid has experience and ability, and he will be an excellent prime minister.”
MK Eli Avidar then took the podium. When asked how his party is dealing with Netanyahu’s attempts to steal the Russian vote [Yisrael Beiteinu is traditionally considered the party of Israelis from the FSU], he said severely, “Netanyahu’s videos need to be subtitled with the words ‘The presenter is an actor.’ He appears in a video, utters threats against Hamas and you think that he’s about to send two military divisions into Gaza to root out Ismail Haniyeh [senior Hamas political figure]. He pays them dollars. Netanyahu makes use of Zeev Elkin [Ukrainian-born Likud MK], but when Elkin asks anything of him he gives him nothing. He discards him like a used tissue. Miri Regev [Minister of Culture and Sports, from Likud] wiped the floor with Yuli Edelstein [Likud MK also from Ukraine] just so that Netanyahu could take part in a ceremony. Netanyahu makes use of immigrants from Russia and then casts them aside.”
Regarding the ultra-orthodox, MK Avidar contended: “We need to get the finance committee out of Gafni’s clutches, the health ministry out of Litzman’s [both of the United Torah Judaism party] so that we can receive proper health services, and Deri [of the Shas party] out of the interior ministry so that regional councils can get the support they need. Up to now, we’ve made deals with them; now it’s time for them to step aside. The country has to return to normality.”
When Akiva Novick asked him about the Balfour Residence [prime minister’s residence on Balfour St. in Jerusalem], the Yisrael Beitenu Knesset member replied: “Sara Netanyahu [PM’s wife] is more powerful than any prime minister who has held office here in the past ten years. She had a few court cases with one attorney and brought the entire prosecution to its knees. Netanyahu hired the whole bar association, and what has he brought us to? To two election campaigns. If Sara Netanyahu were prime minister, Haniya wouldn’t be getting suitcases full of twenty-five million dollars; he’d be getting twenty-five million ticks.”
With regard to the outcome of the elections, MK Avidar told Akiva Novick: “We shall recommend that whichever party gets the most seats form the government. We shall recommend the formation of a national emergency government with us and the two biggest parties. We have to bring this country back to normality. How? By setting aside the ultra-orthodox and the nationalist ultra-orthodox.”
MK Avidar also responded to questions from the audience on the development of Israel’s peripheral areas. “We need to introduce a national program here for the
transfer of one million residents from the center of the country to the periphery. But a lot of people won’t want to leave a 1.5 room apartment in a Tel Aviv hovel that they’re renting for 5,000 NIS a month, unless the hi-tech centers where they work move out to the periphery. Here they’ll get a housing unit with a lawn.”
In his introductory speech at the start of the event, Emek HaMaayanot Regional Council Chairman Yoram Karin spoke about KKL-JNF activities throughout the council’s area of jurisdiction: “I admire and appreciate KKL-JNF’s contribution to Emek HaMaayanot. KKL-JNF is an important factor in strengthening the periphery and in settlement here. It is a partner in everything we do. We want to develop our valley region, and to this end we are also collaborating with the Beit Shean Municipality. Because
agriculture, the environment and the conservation of open spaces are important for the State of Israel as a whole, we shall win our battle over the high cost of water here. We’ve managed to bring our regional council out of decline and into growth. But we need a national mission to double the population here.”
KKL-JNF World Chairman
Danny Atar told those present: “I’m glad that on these hot summer days KKL-JNF can provide the residents of Emek HaMaayanot and its environs with an interesting event that combines current events and joyous singing with strengthening the public’s connection to our organization.”
The event concluded with a performance by the Yonina duo, who sang some of their most popular songs.
KKL-JNF Local Friday events, which are held in towns and villages in northern and southern Israel, strengthen the organization’s ties with local communities.