Yamina Party Chairman Naftali Bennett spoke this evening (Tuesday) after the release of the exit poll results, which predict eight seats for his party, at the party headquarters in Petah Tikva.
Below are the main points of his remarks:
""Now is the time for healing. For healing the rifts in the nation. What was is not what will be. With the power you have given me, I will act only under one principle: what is good for Israel. What is good for all citizens of Israel.".
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""I will work to ensure that Israel's leadership moves from gratuitous hatred to gratuitous love; from turmoil and chaos, to stability and security. From leadership that is preoccupied with itself to professional leadership that cares. Only a united state will know how to stand confidently against Israel's enemies.".
""It will be several days before we know the true results, and the picture of the next government is unknown at this stage. But I can guarantee one thing: any government that is formed will take care of all Israeli citizens: secular and religious, ultra-Orthodox and traditional, Jews and Arabs.".
I am a right-winger. Of the Land of Israel. Of security and strength against Israel's enemies, and not of submission and weakness. Of providing personal security to the residents of the south, and not of surrendering to Bedouin terrorist gangs.
A right of strengthening the State of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. A right of restraining the excessive power of the judicial system in Israel. Not by dismantling it but by reforming it. A right of a free economy alongside social sensitivity.
I am determined to promote the values of the right in any government that is formed. But a true right-winger does not hate; he unites. A true right-winger does not crush his ideological opponents; he implements his values.
My father, James Bennett, may his memory be blessed, who immigrated to Israel with my mother from San Francisco out of pure Zionism, was amazed by everything in the land. Every little stream, every hill, every house, and every person was a miracle to him.
My father taught me that we should not take for granted the existence of a Jewish state in the Land of Israel. He taught me that our first state during the First Temple period only lasted for 80 years before it split into two kingdoms and we lost most of the Jewish people forever.
Our second country only survived for about 75 years as an independent sovereign state. This is our third chance, the State of Israel. We are in the eighth decade, in which we have never succeeded.
This time, no one is going to let anyone destroy this country.
We will be here forever and ever.
What tore apart the previous countries was gratuitous hatred, tribalism, and the reckless conduct of a leadership that did not care to unite the people. We understand the gravity of the responsibility.
"We will implement a national, right-wing, state and responsible policy.".
