Injured, and after being left without case, MK Avi Dichter attacks PM: "Netanyahu made a grave mistake, he belittled 130,000 dysfunctionals." Intervenes in legal process ”• And for sovereignty:“ You cannot leave exposed enclaves ”

• "It's bad for a party that has only one candidate." Poet

  Photo: 

  Oren Ben Hakun

Very few people in the State of Israel hold a resume like Avi Dichter's. An IDF patrol officer who participated in secret operations, responsible for the assassination of senior Hamas officials, targeted assassinations, stopped suicide bombings as part of his Shin Bet duties, and also, a former Israeli government minister. Despite the impressive track record, and for 15 years in Israeli politics, we did the interview with Dichter in the MK's office, near the Knesset corridors, and not in the office of a minister or cabinet member.

When I ask him how a person like him is left without a file, he replies: "I have no idea. You can do an extraordinary campaign in the primaries, get the support of 130,000 Likud voters and reach the top ten - because these are the things that depend on you. One person - the Prime Minister. And Netanyahu made a grave mistake in my case. "

Dichter is one of the biggest disappointments in the recent portfolio division. From the tenth place on the list, which is in fact the eighth place after leaving Gilad Arden to the UN and appointing an opponent Levin to the Speaker of the Knesset, he has seen how others on the list receive senior files and he is left out. At the last moment he dared to go against Netanyahu's decision, the Prime Minister's Office announced that the Prime Minister should not be threatened and even attributed to him the "rebel" nickname.

"I have known Netanyahu for 49 years. When I was recruited as a combat patrol general, he was the commander of the senior team, then in my position in the Shin Bet, and later in his decision as chairman of the Foreign and Defense Committee, the Minister of the Interior and the Home Defense Minister. We had a good collaboration. "

so what happened?

"Again, I have no idea. In 2015, he appointed ministers in the order of their primaries. He now claimed that he was first appointing incumbent ministers. We spoke ten days before the filing and told him exactly what I wanted and what I was interested in, Proficient in them like home security, intelligence and energy. He said he still didn't do it. Then I couldn't reach him anymore, kept blocking me. I tried almost every day. I wanted to make sure I didn't stay out of the circle. We decide, "and this is how it goes on every day. On Monday, three days before the date of the inauguration, a courier sent me with serious suggestions, such as being KKL-JNF chairman, I rejected it outright and explained that I had not come to look for a "And again, I came to influence the government from within the government."

The Netanyahu bureau says you broke the tools too quickly, that you had a meeting scheduled for the voting night, and you issued a "rebellion" message too soon. 

"Come on, nonsense, Clam Paddy. It's not serious, I waited until the last minute. The meeting at the end of which was supposed to satiate the government was supposed to start on Thursday at 6 PM. I waited until 5 PM, which is definitely the last minute, and then I got the message out. That if nothing happened until 5 pm, I understood the message and decided to say it was a disrespect to the 130,000 Likud officials who put me in a high place and wanted to see me take part in the government. "

Are you saying that Netanyahu betrayed his voters?

"From the world I come from, this betrayal is too harsh a word. It is a disrespect to 130,000 functionaries who bothered and came to realize their right. I was severely hurt by it and made sure to pass it on to us in a poignant conversation."

What is said?

"We met on Saturday night for a private conversation after the inauguration was postponed to Sunday. We are both mature people, we both understand the rules of the game and know that he is the one who decides but his decision was a mistake."

Offended?

"There is frustration and disappointment, but you can deal with them for only a few hours and that's it. The next day I am already coming to the Knesset as MK who serves the public."

Do you understand why Netanyahu left you out?

"No. To me, this is an illogical decision that hurts me on a personal level."

The public learns that whoever does not flinch to the boss does not win the job.

"These are not phrases I know from my content world. I look at state and responsible view, all my life I have progressed that way."

The fact is that people who lay on the fence on Netanyahu's personal issues got roles and you didn't. 

"There won't be forever." With Netanyahu // Photo: Dudu Grinshpan 

"Netanyahu has received support from me above and beyond what you could dream of getting from a person like Avi Dichter. I chose him to be my candidate for Likud chairman, it's not a matter of that."

But you did not express support for his legal battle. Maybe that's why you're staying out.

"Where I thought there was room to support me, I was very happy that 11 judges ruled that he could serve as prime minister. I would not support Bibi if I thought it was unworthy. I cannot ask for greater and stronger support than the substantial support he received from me."

Why didn't you go stand with Netanyahu like the rest of your friends from the famous photo with the masks in court? 

"I'm not going to intervene in legal proceedings."

This is not an intervention. It's an expression of support. 

"I see it as an intervention. Even if I was appointed PM, I would not be there."

What did you think about the stabilization of your friends? 

"I try to say what I would do and what I would not do. Anyone who does their own soul-searching."

Maybe that was your way of getting revenge. 

"This is not personal revenge. I wish Netanyahu that in this trial his truth will be accepted in court. I do not think that a greater blessing can be given than this."

"I'm not a straw candidate"

In the meantime, Dichter is waiting to see "If down the road, I will be offered a role in the government, through which I can exercise my skills. If it does, what is good. In any case, I will run for Likud and then on for Prime Minister. That is why I am in politics."

It is possible?

"In the last primaries, Netanyahu turned to me to face him in the primaries."

To hurt Gideon Sa'ar's chances?

"I guess he wanted it for his own reasons. Of course, I rejected it outright, ten days before the primaries it wasn't serious, but I appreciated his proposal." 

Why did you evaluate? He meant to be a straw candidate who would only take votes from Gideon Sa'ar.

"I never intended to be a straw candidate." 

So you didn't really appreciate the proposal. Understand what he is trying to do. 

"I look at the bright side. The Likud head came and said I was right to run for the Likud. Of course, on the practical side, I informed him that it would not happen. But you could say that he certainly did what I intended to do."

Will you face him? After him?

"I intend to run for Likud. When will it be? I don't know. Whether the primaries will be two months or two years is a completely different decision." 

In principle, dealing with Netanyahu in the primaries is this possible?

"Everyone knows in the Likud that Netanyahu will not be the Likud leader forever. Netanyahu knows this too. In general, this is a very bad statement for a party that has only one candidate."

Why can't you admit that you will face Netanyahu in the upcoming primaries?

"I intend to run for Likud to be Likud chairman and Likud candidate for prime minister." 

There is the approach of Gideon Sa'ar, who faced Netanyahu, and there is the approach of Nir Barkat and Israel Katz, who say they will only compete after Netanyahu comes off the stage. Where are you located?

"There is the Avi Dichter approach, which has two levels: one is the Likud's prime minister and the other is the prime minister. You haven't heard me say I intend to run for prime minister in another party except the Likud. It has a very significant impact."

"The worst was to go to the elections"

You will not hear from Dichter criticizing the division of unfounded cases and the bloated government. "I understand the need to compare the number of Likud ministers to the number of blue-and-white. The prime minister wanted a private government and therefore had to staff the offices so that they were equal to those of the other coalition."

And what about the terrible waste of money?

"You are right, but you always have to look at the bad or the worse. The worse was going to the elections. If we went for a fourth round there would be billions of shekels of damage." 

How long do you think the government will last?

"I've learned that sometimes what looks promising, collapses at the end, and what seems hopeless, holds up. So I wouldn't be surprised if this government completes its days."

Dichter is one of the well-known supporters of applying sovereignty, "but one has to be careful, for example, of the issue of settlements in enclaves," he says. "I read a university study in the country, which gave six reasons why not to apply sovereignty, for none of the reasons half a million Israelis living there are mentioned and this is the problem. An enclave can be like a tourniquet. There is no way in which the State of Israel will begin sovereignty and leave enclaves. This is a death sentence for the enclave. We have experienced this in Gaza. Leaving this isolated settlement very dangerous. 

"The recognition clause in a Palestinian state is also dangerous," he continues. "I have seen how you become nothing and authority to the state. Every terrorist or family of terrorist receives money from the authority, and some even become civil servants. Do you imagine a situation that would be a Jewish terrorist who would be released from prison and start working in government? A Palestinian state must not be recognized."