With 14 days until the 2026 elections, Netali Shem Tov, number three on the Amcha Yisrael list, sat down with Yossi Ben Attar in the Srugim studio to reject claims of coordination with Likud on a campaign to boost Ofer Winter's party, address the leaked conversations attributed to Yonatan Urich, leave the door open to a partnership with Aryeh Deri, and clarify her position on gender separation and tefillin in schools. She also spoke about the response she received from her former colleagues in the media when she entered politics.
netali Shem Tov in Srugim studio
"Bibi prefers Goldknopf to Winter"
Amcha Yisrael's No. 3 tells Srugim she doesn't understand the Likud's murderous campaign against her party, leaves door open to partnering with Aryeh Deri, and explains her position on gender separation and tefillin in schools
Against the backdrop of published exchanges attributed to Prime Minister's adviser Yonatan Urich, and the claim that Netanyahu's campaign against Winter is designed to boost him, Shem Tov said:
"We're not talking to them, that's not what's happening. And I think anyone who's been exposed to those exchanges understands very well that there's nothing there," Shem Tov said. According to her, the public attacks from Likud point to attempts to damage the party: "There's an open campaign, it was said inside the faction meeting, it was said explicitly through Netanyahu's videos."
"I think it's better to eliminate enemies than brothers," she added. "We don't mow down good people who come into politics to help the people of Israel."
Later she addressed the composition of the next government and made clear she does not rule out a partnership with the Shas chairman: "Aryeh Deri can be a partner in the government if they pull themselves together and understand that we can't continue with what was." At the same time, she stressed that "a government that depends on Goldknopf is not a good government for the people of Israel."
Shem Tov also attacked Netanyahu's priorities: "He would rather keep Goldknopf than Ofer Winter, a fighter who led forces for many years." According to her, her entry into government is conditional on decisive action on all fronts, emigration from Gaza, and implementation of the reservists' plan: "Everyone else will have to make do with these basic principles, and if not, I won't be there."
In contrast to the opening she left for a partnership with Deri, she ruled out the possibility of cooperating with the Democrats' chairman: "Yair Golan is not my partner in any way. I will not cooperate with this man."
In the interview, she also addressed religion-and-state issues. When asked about a municipal event with gender separation, she replied: "On public services provided with separation, I don't think it's something that's forbidden to do according to the audience and the demand." She qualified that "the idea is not to coerce and the idea is not to discriminate and not to take from any sector at the expense of another sector."
On the proposal to offer tefillin to youth, she said: "There's nothing wrong with offering tefillin," and added: "If there's someone in the State of Israel who's afraid of tefillin, then there's a problem with him and not with whoever is offering to put them on." Alongside this, she stressed that activity inside schools must take place according to procedures and with appropriate approvals: "No one enters school grounds and sets up any kind of booth without receiving the appropriate approvals."
Shem Tov made clear she does not intend to change her lifestyle following her entry into politics: "I don't feel that anyone needs to change their way of life. I don't want to impose anything secular on you and you won't impose on me, we live together."
Shem Tov also spoke about the responses she received from her colleagues in the media following her entry into politics: "There were some who were happy for me and there were those who didn't like it." She refused to reveal quotes from private messages, but said: "The sad insight I got from this is that there really is no acceptance of the right in Israel. After all, I didn't go to Likud and I didn't join Benjamin Netanyah, I came to say that there's a different right in Israel, one that actually makes demands and offers something new here. And still there's a lot of anger at me as if I did something illegitimate." At the same time, she made it clear that the people close to her did not cut off contact with her following the move.
Natalya Shem Tov interviewed by Yossi Ben Attar (Photo: Srugim)| צילום: Srugim studio (Photo: Srugim)
