Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir revealed today (Sunday) on 103fm radio that no fewer than eight senior Likud officials, including four serving ministers, asked him to join his party on the eve of the primaries.
""Four serving ministers and four serving MKs approached me to reserve us. They see the Otzma polls, they saw how strong we are and they wanted to join," he said.
So why didn't they join?
""I also have a lot of friends from high school, maybe I'll put them on the list too? It's not the same thing. Likud is Likud, strength is strength. I wish them success in Likud.".
However, he sounds much more reserved about a MK who did the opposite. "Almog Cohen is in the Likud. I did him a favor by not dismissing him," he said. "He's someone who would take a party's mandate to another party. Almog is a good MK and I wish him well.".
Ben Gvir said that during the talks to unite his list with Smotrich's religious Zionism, he insisted on placing Cohen in a realistic position. "Smotrich didn't want someone without a kippa, and I said: 'There will be no one without a kippa,' my parents without a kippa. The negotiations almost exploded over this. After I fought so hard for Almog, to take my mandate and transfer it to Likud? That's not how you behave.".
The minister in charge of the police was surprised by the decision of Defense Minister Yisrael Katz to transfer policing authority over the settlers in Samaria from the IDF to the police's Sha'i District.
""I greatly appreciate Minister Katz, but we need to understand that the police have no authority in Areas A and B. I love Israel, and I respect him as a defense minister who does good things, but he didn't talk to me about the decision. If they transfer authority to me, I need to be given the ability to manage it. Today, the police, in order to remove stolen vehicles from there, have to coordinate with the army. If they transfer authority to me - on the contrary, on the contrary.".
Regarding the Twitter uproar, in which Ben Gvir shared a video of the arrest of a Bedouin bride and groom, Ben Gvir said that he did not delete the tweet. "Apparently they took it down for us, and we are in dialogue with Twitter," he said.
As for the publication itself, he said: "I am proud that for too many years a bride and groom have been making the lives of the residents of the Negev miserable and frightening them. Do you know what it is like to drive on Highway 25 near Dimona? They are committing vandalism there, I am proud that on my shift the law is finally being enforced. Even if it is a bride and groom, they will find themselves in a police station if they break the law.".
On finding Mali and Liel Yahalomi: "You can't take risks. There's always a few percent that maybe it's a different event after all.".
The minister complimented the police on finding Mali and Liel Yahalomi in Argentina over the weekend. "The police worked very hard, I spoke with the Commissioner on Thursday, he told me that this is not a case of terrorism or criminality, we are on them and will bring this clarification," he said.
He explained why the police went to such lengths to find the mother and daughter, if there was no fear of crime: "You can't take risks. There is always a few percent that maybe it was another incident after all. I am proud of Commissioner Danny Levy, the police officers and the systems they activated. Another country doesn't go looking for its residents abroad.".
