Netanyahu Confidant Lior Katzav Reveals Late-Night Talk | JP
Lior Katzav, a lawyer, former mayor of Kiryat Malachi and a close associate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has described a candid late-night conversation in which he said Netanyahu asked him why he needed “all this.”
Speaking in an interview with Israel’s 103FM radio, Katzav recalled the moment. “Some time ago I sat with the prime minister, at three or four in the morning. The two of us were alone in the room, with a large map of the Middle East behind us, and then in a moment of openness he asked me, ‘Lior, why do I need all this, I wonder?’ I told him, ‘Prime Minister, you don’t need this, we need you.'”
Katzav continued: “Then he said to me, ‘Look at the map behind us. The only one who can truly deal with the security dangers and the only one who can deal with Iran is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.'”
Turning to coalition politics, Katzav said he did not expect Gadi Eisenkot to succeed in forming a government. “I estimate that Gadi Eisenkot will not succeed in forming a government. Certainly not in the makeup being talked about. He cannot rely on the support of the Arab parties that support terror. I think the connection there is unnatural,” he said.
“He also doesn’t have enough votes from MKs in the Jewish parties who would support him. I don’t see the chareidi factions joining him in the end,” Katzav added. He noted that United Torah Judaism is made up of several factions, including Agudat Yisrael and the Gur Hasidic dynasty. “Out of seven MKs, at least two, Rabbi Meir Porush and the new MK Eliakim Stark, will not rush to join a government headed by Gadi Eisenkot.”
Katzav also addressed criticism of Sara and Yair Netanyahu over their remarks against members of the so-called change bloc. “Mrs. Sara Netanyahu shows very great concern for what is happening in the State of Israel. She expects things to be done for the existence and security of the state, and therefore she is allowed to express her opinion and weigh in on national matters, certainly as someone who is the prime minister’s partner 24 hours a day,” he said.
On the prime minister’s son, Katzav said: “Regarding Yair Netanyahu, I think he is a young man who cares very much about what is happening in the country and who expresses his opinion. I don’t always connect with his style, I don’t always connect with what he says, but that is Yair Netanyahu. I am not his spokesman, I am not defending him. He has his rights and his genuine concern for what is happening here in the State of Israel. When I think about everything he has been through over the years, I can understand where it comes from.”