Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Liberman asserted on Tuesday in an interview with 103FM Radio that the leaders of the centrist parties have no chance of crossing the electoral threshold and should drop out of the race to avoid wasting votes.
“Not Benny Gantz, not Gilad Erdan and Yuli Edelstein, not Yoaz Hendel and Chili Tropper—no chance,” he said.
“Vote for stable parties, not flavor-of-the-month parties. That’s why we lost the last election,” Liberman warned. “I’m telling all of them: You had an opportunity to join existing parties, but because of your ambitions, you decided to run independently. Don’t get in the way. You have no chance. From what I’ve seen in the polls, none of them crosses the threshold, but they could cost the productive, serving bloc three seats.”
“They all received offers, and not only from me. All the parties were prepared to take them in — fair and generous offers — but each one followed his own ambitions. Since 1977, I’ve counted 15 lists that came out of nowhere and disappeared into nowhere: Yigael Yadin and Dash, Kadima, Achora, One Nation, Another Nation, Hatnuah, the Pensioners. There is too much at stake now.
“We are open and willing to listen, and we recommend that they not do anything foolish. Last time, 10 mandates were burned and went to waste. Any list that doesn’t cross the electoral threshold isn’t counted in surplus-vote agreements — and that’s it.”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
