The chairman of the Religious Zionist Party, MK Bezalel Smotrich, spoke on Tuesday evening at the party's headquarters after the publication of the exit polls which predicted his party would win 14-15 Knesset seats.
"Today, thank God, religious Zionism is making history. For the first time since the establishment of the state of Israel, the party of the national religious public - becomes the third largest party in Israel," said Smotrich.
Even though Itamar Ben Gvir and Smotrich are celebrating in separate headquarters, Smotrich stressed, "I want to thank my friend and partner in the journey, Itamar Ben Gvir. I hear speculations about the path moving forward. I want to make it clear here, we will continue to work together just as we did last year and in the campaign."
In the government that will be formed, Smotrich promised, ''We intend to take the great trust we have received and harness it to make a real change and implement a right-wing policy. We will work to restore security and governance. We will restore national pride and honor to the State of Israel. We will make sure that people all over the country will live in security, that they will not be afraid to walk around the streets. We will fight terrorism with all our might, and we will defeat our enemies inside and outside."
"We presented a broad and comprehensive plan to correct the judicial system, and I say here from the stage that we will also implement it because it is the right thing for every Israeli citizen, on the left and the right. This is the way to do justice and this is what the State of Israel needs now. We will strengthen the settlement and work for the application of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria.''
Smotrich stated, "We have been Benjamin Netanyahu's most loyal partners for all these years, both as Prime Minister and as leader of the opposition. We stood by him and supported him because he represents a huge national public, and we continue to support him, and with God’s help he will soon return to the Prime Minister's Office to manage the State of Israel, hand-in-hand in partnership with us."
"In this election, we presented a goal to be bigger than Gantz in order to ensure that only a right-wing government will be established. According to the results of the exit polls, it appears that we have achieved this goal big time, and the meaning is that a full-fledged right-wing government is going to be formed here that will make the changes that have not been made for many, many years.''