Yisrael Beytenu MK Yulia Malinovsky on Sunday ruled out joining a unity government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or forming one that relies on the Arab parties, while defending her party's coalition talks with the chareidi factions as a political necessity.
Speaking on the 103FM radio program hosted by Prof. Aryeh Eldad and Ron Kaufman, Malinovsky addressed the talks under way to form a coalition after party chairman Avigdor Liberman lifted his veto on negotiating with the chareidi parties. Responding to public criticism that the anti-Netanyahu bloc has broken its campaign promises, she said the election result, which gave the bloc 48 seats, forces political compromises.
Malinovsky dismissed the idea of a unity government with Netanyahu and the Likud, and sharply criticized his conduct over the events of October 7. "I'm trying to understand what the word unity means and what the intention is," she said. "Unity with whom? With someone who just a minute and a half ago incited against everyone? Who isn't willing at all to talk about responsibility for October 7, or a state commission of inquiry, or about the Qatari agents in his office?"
She drew a distinction between partnering with Netanyahu and cooperating with the chareidim. "This is a different unity, political unity as a political constraint, because there's no choice after the bloc received 48 seats," she said. "The Netanyahu issue is one of values and morals. Are you willing for Urich to be in the Prime Minister's Office? This isn't my life's dream. I wanted other things, and even today I want something else, but political reality brought me to 48 seats, and I have to form a government under these circumstances. Liberman lifted the veto on negotiating with the chareidim. If you have a better, different option for forming a government, then please."
Malinovsky said she understands the disappointment of the bloc's voters, but stressed that the overriding goal is to break up Netanyahu's bloc and replace the government. When Kaufman argued that the party is "selling out the voters" and promising the chareidim whatever they want, she denied it and said any arrangement would be bound by the limits of the law.
"No way. It's not like there's now an open check and a blank page. We're really not there," she said. "We understand, and they understand too, that reality has changed. There's the draft issue, and it may be that now, out of lack of choice and goodwill, we can solve it. There won't be anything here that doesn't pass the test of the High Court."
Malinovsky also addressed the entry into politics of Likud MK Elisha Madan and his initiative to form a unity government. "Elisha Madan, as a fighter and a hero of Israel, my appreciation for him is infinite, but the use of such a principled man, so dear to every Israeli citizen, I feel he is being used," she said. "On the other hand, I do believe that he believes in it. He's a good man who believes in it."
