'I should be justice minister': Tally Gotliv blames party machinery after Likud primary slide

MK Tally Gotliv attacked Benjamin Netanyahu’s inner circle following the Likud primary results, criticized the small number of women on the party list, and called on the Prime Minister to reserve spots for additional female candidates. At the same time, she declared, "I should be the justice minister" in an interview on 103FM on Wednesday.

"I have no doubt that thanks to the blessings of my special-needs daughter, I succeeded like David against Goliath. This is her victory, thanks to her. I reached 12th place in the primaries. There were backroom deals against me - all the local authority heads, all the labor unions. It was said out loud," she said with visible emotion.

Regarding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s inner circle, she stated: "I agree with Guy Levi that the prime minister did not intervene; it was his surroundings. I don't bow my head to anyone. No one gives me orders, with all due respect: those surrounding the prime minister don't understand," she said.

"I am not naming names; I am telling the prime minister's circle: be careful not to cause him to fail."

"You are not the prime minister; maybe it went to your head a bit. You really aren't," MK Gotliv added. "I am here, and thank God, the people have spoken."

MK Gotliv criticizes lack of women in Likud list

"You want a poster-child woman, as the song goes," she said regarding the low representation of women on the list.

"What kind of woman is capable of taking so much? In principle, you enter a party with primaries. Why would a career woman want to enter this? It's hard to remember that these are just background noises. You need immense resilience," she said.

Later, she called on Netanyahu to intervene in the composition of the party list. "With all due respect to names and reserved spots, I tell the prime minister: there is no such thing as having only two women up to the 20th spot. Bring back Keti Shitrit and May [Golan]; bring back Osnat Zohar, who was elected and deserves a reserved spot. Bring back strong women who are not tokens."

Regarding her personal campaign, she said: "I was always ranked high, and I don't let my complexities as a woman affect me. I will condition myself to push through the hardship," she said. "Failure isn't easy, heartbreaks aren't easy, but from heartbreaks, you only grow."

Dismisses claims of organized haredi voting harming her position

Gotliv dismissed the claim that organized haredi (ultra-Orthodox) voting harmed her. "You have 76,000 voters, and out of those, there are 3,000 haredim, and many haredim voted for me personally," she said.

"At Israel Aerospace Industries, there are registered Likud members who don't necessarily vote Likud, and when they come, they receive the designated slip," she added.

"It's still democratic if you say the slip is acceptable to you, if you decide you are allowed to be a puppet," she said, regarding organized voting mechanisms.

When asked about the role she is aiming for, she answered, "It’s not what I would want; it’s what I should be."

"I should be the Justice Minister. Unlike bombastic declarations, my familiarity with the judicial system runs so deep. I pose a threat to the senior legal junta, and you saw what I did with my knowledge," she insisted.

"With the persecution I experienced, at least I brought [Attorney-General Gali] Baharav-Miara, who pursued me, and her colleagues to their knees," she added.

"I am the Shimon Peres of female candidates. I failed time after time with a sea of heartbreaks, so what happened? Don't be afraid to shatter glass ceilings. Failure is not easy, but failures don't define you - they only propel you forward. To every woman out there: you are responsible for shattering glass ceilings," she said.