Former justice minister Haim Ramon, once a senior Labor Party figure, offered unusually high praise over the weekend for Finance Minister and Religious Zionist Party chairman Bezalel Smotrich, saying the measures he advanced in Judea and Samaria were among the most significant taken since 1967.
Ramon added that, were he to share Smotrich’s worldview, he would believe Smotrich deserved “at least 15 seats.”
Ramon made the comments on the Gatekeeper podcast with journalist Nissim Sofer during a discussion about the political system and the electoral landscape.
During the interview, Ramon devoted a significant portion of the conversation to analyzing the current government’s activities in Judea and Samaria, arguing that this was the area in which the most significant changes of the government’s term had occurred.
“We are coming off four years in which this government carried out the most far-reaching annexation measures since we have been in Judea and Samaria,” Ramon said. “Smotrich deserves credit for that. If my views were like Smotrich’s, I would say he deserves at least 15 seats.”
Smotrich did things ‘no one else did’
Ramon expanded his praise of the minister, saying that Smotrich had succeeded in advancing measures that none of his predecessors had managed to implement.
“He did amazing things that no one else did,” Ramon said. “He did not pay attention to Benjamin Netanyahu or Yoav Gallant. He was the minister of the territories, and he did amazing things there.”
Ramon also addressed plans Smotrich has recently discussed, under which the Settlement Administration is prepared to establish three new communities in the northern Gaza Strip should a political decision be made to move in that direction. Ramon noted that the mere presentation of the plans had generated almost no broad public debate.
“He recently also had plans to establish communities in the Gaza Strip,” Ramon said. “And no one addressed the question of whether we support it or oppose it.”
According to Ramon, the fact that the possibility was being discussed in practical terms demonstrated the extent of the change that had taken place in public and political discourse.
Bennett opposes illegal farms due to their illegality, Ramon says
Later in the conversation, Ramon also discussed former prime minister Naftali Bennett and his position on illegal outposts and farms. He referred to Bennett’s comments opposing the farms and said that the position stemmed from his objection to violations of the law.
“When Bennett said he opposed the farms, he said it because he opposes illegal acts. That is admirable of him,” Ramon said.
In response, Sofer noted that during the previous election campaign, Bennett had pledged to work to regulate and legalize the young settlements. Sofer explained the discrepancy by saying that “he underwent a change.”
Ramon’s comments are notable given his political background as a former senior Labor Party official and a longtime member of the center-left camp. Although he made clear that he does not share Smotrich’s ideological positions, he gave Smotrich considerable credit for the way he had succeeded in advancing his policies in Judea and Samaria.
Ramon also assessed that, from the perspective of right-wing voters, these represented significant political and practical achievements that should have been reflected in Smotrich’s electoral strength.
Source:
www.jpost.com
