In an interview with Channel 7, Yesh Atid MK Moshe Kinley Tour-Paz pushed back against remarks by Yair Golan and defended Naftali Bennett’s comments on evacuating illegal outposts and structures. He said the backlash, which he blamed on Bezalel Smotrich’s camp, was “ridiculous,” and noted that “Smotrich himself evacuated illegal outposts just in the past two months.”
Tour-Paz said construction should proceed wherever it can be done legally in Judea and Samaria, and that removing illegal building is a basic duty of any government. “The government must uphold the law,” he said, adding that this was also how he understood Bennett’s position.
He described the political partnership between Yair Lapid and Bennett as “an excellent connection,” saying the alliance between religious and secular Israelis has been proven since October 7 and is “alive, real and kicking.” In his view, those who served and fought are the ones who should lead the country, and “the line that will lead the government will be ours.”
Tour-Paz also rejected Golan’s call to close the Ali preparatory academy, saying, “Ali will not be closed, and neither will Yeshivat Har Etzion, where I studied.” He defended religious-Zionist yeshivot and pre-army academies as a model combining Torah study and military service, attacked what he called Haredi draft evasion, and said the serving and working public is carrying the burden. He also criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Smotrich, arguing that some in the religious-Zionist public are angry with Smotrich because they feel disappointed by his policies, and said the movement’s DNA looks “much more like Bennett than Smotrich.”
