Lankri: I Don't Believe Half a Word From Netanyahu

Yisrael Beiteinu MK Talia Lankri, a former deputy head of Israel's National Security Council, dismissed the idea of her party joining a broad government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, saying she does not believe "half a word" he says.

"Oh, come on. I don't believe half a word that comes out of Netanyahu's mouth," Lankri told Radio 103FM on Sunday morning. "We've seen what he has done throughout all these years, so why would he now decide differently and say something different?"

In the same interview, Lankri responded to reports that Mossad chief Roman Gofman had met senior US administration officials in Washington to discuss a possible strike on Iran. She said she trusts Gofman personally but is uneasy about the political circumstances of the trip.

"On a personal level, I know Roman well. I trust him very much as an army officer and as someone who has watched him over the years," she said. "But in my view, he finds himself here in a very problematic political constellation, and I hope that if that is the situation, he will know how to raise a red flag."

Lankri said that even if the visit was necessary, the way it was carried out raised questions. "I don't really know what is going on there. There may have been a need, but even if so, why alone? Why not with other diplomatic representation? Why not with an IDF representative?" she said. "For at least two years, the chief of staff has been leading the Iran issue with the US military, in dialogue and at a very high level of readiness. There was a professional reason to bring the person leading this process, with his capabilities, together with the Mossad chief."

Lankri also addressed criticism of Yisrael Beiteinu's willingness to sit in a government with the chareidi parties. Critics say this runs against the party's campaign promises on sharing the burden of military service, a reference to its push to draft chareidi men.

"This isn't a matter of breaking a promise. It's a matter of looking at where the election results landed," she said. "This is not what we hoped for. We thought we would have more than 61, that the citizens of Israel would back those who serve rather than non-enlistment and draft dodgers. When we saw the election results, we had to recalculate, weigh new considerations, and decide what among our priorities is most right for the State of Israel."

She said party leader Avigdor Liberman had lifted his veto on the chareidi parties once he concluded that Netanyahu was the obstacle. "The moment Avigdor Liberman said, 'First and foremost, I want what is good for the State of Israel, and with Netanyahu we will not succeed in doing that and in passing laws and security as we see it,' he lifted the veto on the chareidim," she said.

"We are not giving up on our principles," she added. "Things may take time, because we will need a law that has to pass the High Court of Justice, not only the chareidim and the IDF, and that is part of the issue."