Israeli journalist Amit Segal claimed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered him the fourth spot on Likud’s list ahead of the 2022 elections during the “Heroes of Truth” conference for ZAKA volunteers earlier this week.
According to a video circulating on social media and seen by The Jerusalem Post, Segal said that Netanyahu had originally offered him the 14th spot on the list during a meeting three years ago, when the prime minister was head of the opposition.
The offer came from Netanyahu’s desire to secure dati leumi (national religious) votes amid former justice minister Ayelet Shaked‘s growing support, according to Segal.
Segal claimed that Netanyahu had first offered the position to Israeli journalist Menachem Horowitz, who turned it down, before reaching out to Segal himself.
“I told him [Netanyahu], thank you for the offer, but I’m not interested,” Segal said in the video.
He further claimed that Netanyahu called him later that night over WhatsApp with a second offer after consulting his wife, Sara, on Segal’s rejection, who reportedly told him that 14th place was “not enough.”
According to Segal, Netanyahu then offered him “the fourth place on the list and any ministerial position you want.”
Segal said he again rejected the position, prompting Netanyahu to push back and offer the journalist any position he wanted.
Segal shared that rather than a ministerial position, he had suggested to Netanyahu that Israel “needs to make some kind of judicial reform.”
According to Segal, Netanyahu then promptly ended the call, saying, “You’ll regret this.”
“Three months later, a different person was chosen as Justice Minister and suggested a slightly different reform, and the country filled with protests,” Segal continued, referencing the mass judicial reform protests that took place across Israel in 2023, stretching from January to October of that year.