Otzma Yehudit attacked the Likud movement for its exclusion from a World Zionist Congress coalition agreement on Wednesday.
The negotiations for the portfolios and positions in the National Institutions saw agreements between slates excluding the party, in accordance with requests from left-wing factions, according to Culture and Sport Minister Miki Zohar’s office and the party.
MK Yitzhak Wasserlauf (Otzma Yehudit), who is also development of the Negev and Galilee and national resilience minister, blamed the Likud for agreeing to the boycott of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s party.
First time a Zionist faction is boycotted
Wasserlauf said it was the first time that “a Zionist faction was boycotted in the National Institutions. In the [World] Zionist Organization, where until today there was a wall-to-wall coalition, the Left and Reform movement’s demand to boycott Otzma Yehudit was accepted.
“The one who signed this disgrace and audacity is none other than the Likud, through Culture Minister Miki Zohar,” said Wasserlauf. “Zohar, in a campaign of uncontrollable personal lust and hatred, also sold everything to the Left in a liquidation sale. The Right received a majority in the elections in the National Institutions, but Micki Zohar split it because of personal quarrels, for the sake of hatred and revenge.”
Wasserlauf referenced the dispute within the Likud, chiefly between Zohar and World Zionist Organization Chairman Yaakov Hagoel, about the failure to hold elections within Likud. The dispute led to the two factions negotiating and coming to separate agreements with other slates, according to some sources, weakening its negotiating position.
'What was done here will not be forgiven'
“What was done here will not be forgiven,” he added. “And there will be a price for this boycott. I call on Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu to intervene. You cannot say you did not know and were not aware. You are the one who gave the power of the Likud to Miki Zohar, and you are the one who signed this boycott against Otzma Yehudit. Once again, the Likud’s constant winking at the Left is becoming clear. They are your preferred partners. And the public should know that.”