MK Ofer Shelah from Mish Atid has a full stomach: about the Ministry of Health, about former partners Gantz and Ashkenazi, and about the centrist Netanyahu, who he says is deliberately degenerating the state's institutions, thereby endangering the lives and pockets of its citizens.
In an interview he gave to Haaretz, he suggests that leftists learn a lesson from the generals' creeping into the Netanyahu government, and tells of the scenario he saw before his eyes before Blue and White disintegrated.
In the interview, he promised sharp criticism of Benny Gantz and Gabi Ashkenazi, his partners until recently in the same political hostel. "The time has come to talk about the main person responsible for this story, which is Gabi Ashkenazi and not Benny Gantz, who undermined our moves from the day after the last elections. Ashkenazi undermined efforts to form a minority government, to take control of the Knesset, and so on.
Want more news, videos and stories? Join the Haredim 10 WhatsApp channel >>
""It's no secret that Ashkenazi thought we should enter the government after the second elections. This is certainly a legitimate view. In my opinion, it is illegitimate to act against things that your party and your party leader are trying to do, and to put your party leader in this situation.".
Shelah shows zero understanding of Gantz's situation, which in his opinion stems not from the necessity of reality itself but from his personal weakness. "Benny Gantz simply collapsed under the pressure at the moment of truth. He gave up everything, ran into Netanyahu's arms, and now he's begging for mercy.
""My son's problem is that he came just for fun. He's a good man who many people told him, come, you'll be able to get elected, you'll save the people of Israel, and then he made a decision and he stands by it and life hits him. Now, if you just come to politics, politics will peel you off quickly. There's nothing more obscene in my opinion than entering a system and then saying that you don't behave according to its rules because you're too good or moral. Did you come to this system? You're supposed to know what you're getting into. Don't tell me stories.".
Gantz has faced terrible campaigns from the Likud three times. The most terrible were against a candidate.
""One hundred percent, I agree. They peeled the skin off his feet. I'm telling you from experience, when we went through the third elections, he was worse than Yair and me. For him, Netanyahu was the person who ruined his life. Two weeks later you hear that they are on good terms. I don't understand that.".
So what really happened? he was asked.
""I don't know, he's a weak man. Simply a weak man. And Netanyahu is truly a morally rotten man to levels that are hard to describe.".
Could it be that this is also your mistake? He was asked. After all, you united with Benny Gantz and made him number one, you convinced Gabi Ashkenazi to enter the fray. Could it be that you didn't recognize him correctly?
""Last February, there was a given situation that Israel Defense Forces led against us, so Benny Gantz's status as number one was derived from that, and that was perfectly fine in my opinion. I myself told Gantz that Blue and White could only exist under his leadership. Given the pressure for unification, we had no choice but to join Blue and White.".
""But in general, in relation to what you're saying, yes, I think that Blue and White is also a signal to the public, let's call it leftist, or one that wants an alternative to Likud, that maybe it's time to get rid of this invention that says, let's bring in generals who say nothing - because Gabi Ashkenazi hasn't said anything since 2011 and Benny Gantz hasn't said anything since 2015 - precisely because they don't say anything, we'll use their popularity and have an election campaign in which they try to say as little as possible and that's how we'll win.".
Blue and White responded: "Ofer Shelah is a worthy person and a hardworking MK, which is why Gantz and Blue and White appointed him to the important position of chairman of the Corona Committee. It is very unfortunate that due to legitimate political disputes he chooses to lie, slander, and descend into the gutter. Shelah and Yesh Atid preferred, in a time of historic crisis, to drag Israel into a fourth election, while Gantz and members of Blue and White made a difficult and leadership decision, and sought to examine whether there was a way to prevent this, while preserving Israeli democracy.".
""His words once again show that instead of putting Israel first, he put himself and his own petty interests at the forefront.".
