A day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made his phone number public, inviting citizens to call him, the “Sheva” (Seven O’clock) program hosted by Noam Amir decided to test the number live today (Monday) – and Netanyahu answered. The spontaneous conversation quickly turned into an interview, during which the Prime Minister revealed that, according to him, Iran had tried to assassinate one of his sons, addressed Israeli activity in the face of Turkish entrenchment in Syria, and warned against the proliferation of small parties on the right in the run-up to the elections.
During the “Sheva” program, the studio decided to check whether the Prime Minister would indeed answer the published number – and called him live. Netanyahu picked up the phone, and at the beginning of the conversation even joked after the studio asked to verify that it was indeed him: “What is ‘like his’? What, is Topaz imitating me? Of course it’s me.”
He later referred to the number he published himself and said: “By the way, you called a phone number we published; I don’t know if you know what happened…” The studio replied that according to the information received, the system to which the calls were directed crashed due to the load. What began as an attempt to check the number turned within minutes into a long conversation with the prime minister, who was on his way to a cabinet meeting.
One of the most notable moments in the conversation came when Netanyahu was asked about the discussion surrounding Gadi Eisenkot’s security and the comparison to the security his sons receive. Netanyahu first said that he had already spoken to the head of the Shin Bet and asked to ensure appropriate security for someone running for prime minister. He then moved on to talk about the threats against his family members and revealed: “As for my sons: I think there is something here that is unbelievable. Iran targeted one of my sons. Iran tried to murder, to kill one of my sons.”
When asked whether this was intelligence information that was presented to him, Netanyahu did not elaborate and repeated his words: “Iran tried to assassinate one of my sons.” According to him, security for his sons is no luxury: “This is something that without it they will simply succeed in doing.” He added that people should “restrain themselves” on the subject, even during an election campaign.
The Prime Minister was later asked about the claims that a security escalation might serve him during the election period, and in particular about the activity in Syria intended to prevent Turkish entrenchment. Netanyahu rejected the claims and said that serious security discussions had taken place on the subject, according to him, at the initiative of the IDF, and that all security officials had recommended preventing the Turkish move. “I am fighting against Turkey’s attempt to essentially establish forward bases against the State of Israel,” he said. According to him, he is acting “responsibly but also with determination and great firmness” in the face of threats to Israel, even when this requires withstanding pressure.
The conversation also dealt with the large number of small parties competing for the right-wing votes. Netanyahu warned that such a split could decide the election campaign and lead to the bloc’s defeat. “It could bring down the right, in a simple way,” he said. According to him, small right-wing parties could cause a loss of votes if they do not pass the threshold, and in another scenario, lead to another party in the bloc not passing. Netanyahu twice repeated his message to these parties: “Either unite – or resign.” He compared the danger to the 1992 elections and claimed that a split on the right then contributed to the fall of the Likud government and the rise of the left-wing government, which was followed by the Oslo Accords.
At the beginning of the conversation, Netanyahu said that he was making his way to the cabinet meeting after attending an event following the discovery of the remains of the Altalena, and before that, he visited the Central Command. The prime minister said he intends to work to raise the ship from the wreckage, so that it can serve as, in his words, a “tangible monument” to the message left by Menachem Begin: “Never again. There will be no civil war.”