Likud's Lerner warns Eisenkot path risks Palestinian state

Shlomo Lerner in interview with Kippot Barzel (Srugim studio)

After three intense years in which he served close to 500 reserve days with the Givati Brigade in the Gaza Strip, businessman Shlomo Lerner decided to make a sharp turn in his life and join the Likud list.

In an interview with Srugim, Lerner explained his decision to enter politics: "I understood that I don't want to go back to the narrow place where I only care about myself, my family, my business. After everything we experienced and everything we went through, I'm no longer capable of going back. I want to have an impact, on where the state is going, where the government is going, where the public is going. To make sure there's never another October seventh, that we don't go backwards."

Netanyahu's leadership and the campaign's achievements: "Historic change across the Middle East"

Responding to criticism about the conception that preceded October 7, Lerner emphasized that since October 8, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has led a determined campaign that brought unprecedented achievements.

"You can go over complaints about Netanyahu up to October seventh, but from October eighth you cannot ignore the tremendous achievements, with terrible prices, heavy prices, but this is Israel's second War of Independence, and Netanyahu is leading it with a strong hand," Lerner said.

"If you had tried to imagine three years ago that today we control almost 70% of Gaza, control the Philadelphi Corridor... the IDF built 40 new outposts on the Yellow Line... these are things that weren't even possible, weren't on the table, and he fought and did it. And it's not just in Gaza, also in Lebanon... Hezbollah is paralyzed not because it doesn't want to act, but because it's incapable."

Criticism of Gadi Eisenkot and the opposition bloc: "Danger of a Palestinian state here"

Lerner leveled sharp criticism at the security approach of former IDF chiefs of staff and opposition leaders, arguing that their path could endanger the war's achievements and lead to dangerous concessions.

"Eisenkot's path is unequivocally a danger that a Palestinian state will arise here, a danger that he won't stand up to the pressures," Lerner said. "When he had no responsibility and didn't have all the pressures that Netanyahu had, he asked to surrender, so what will happen when he has the pressures? There's really a real question here of direction, who will lead the State of Israel."

Political boycotts and coalition scenarios

During the interview, the issue of political boycotts against Likud and Netanyahu came up, and the possible reliance of center-left elements on Arab parties to form a government.

"They're not boycotting Netanyahu, they're boycotting everyone who votes for him, over a million people," Lerner said. "They're willing to go into government with people who can't say that Hamas must be destroyed... and yet they choose to boycott half their own people, and even Netanyahu himself who is an officer in the Matkal reconnaissance unit and a bereaved brother, all to go with Mansour Abbas."

Haredi draft and Modi'in Illit events: "A shame and disgrace, must enlist more"

The two discussed the riots that took place in Modi'in Illit following the arrest of a haredi draft evader, and Lerner called on haredi leadership to take responsibility and lead a broader enlistment process.

When asked about the scenes, Lerner responded: "Unequivocally, the heart contracts and it's a shame and disgrace and those who were there should be ashamed... Haredi society should have enlisted more, that's clear... This is part of the challenges of the next government — to find the way to both enlist haredim and preserve the Torah world."

If the left rises, change in the judicial system won't happen

Lerner emphasized the significant presence of religious-Zionist representatives on the Likud list, and warned that election results will determine the character of the Supreme Court for decades to come.

When asked about the religious-Zionist public, Lerner said: "There's a very, very large faction within the religious-Zionist public inside Likud... Supreme Court justices are going to be chosen, nine or ten in the coming years. And I'm telling you, if the left comes to power here, the change in the judicial system won't happen anymore... If the public wants the Supreme Court to understand it and its needs in settlement and security, it must have Likud and a right-wing government as broad as possible."