Ayelet Shaked: I'm not sorry that I joined Bennett-Lapid coalition

"Under the circumstances, there was no alternative but to join the government of change (the coalition formed by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid). What kind of delegitimization did they do to us?" asked former Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked.

"The Israeli public doesn't vote according to actual actions, but rather tribally or according to their gut," Shaked said in an interview with Maariv. "There was a very aggressive campaign based entirely on lies against the outgoing government. People argued against funds we transferred to terrorists, but Netanyahu is now transferring billions to Arabs."

"On the basis of the campaign, there was a lot of anger towards me in the right-wing public and I paid the price. The person on the street doesn't ask which minister will perform the best," she added. "But I knew that in the government of change, I would pay a heavy political price, and I did. Ministerial success is not always politically rewarding.

"Regarding the planned reforms in the judicial system, I agree with some of the decisions and some I don't," she added. "We will judge each reform on its own merits. I supported the superseding clause by a majority of 61, but the superseding clause should be included in the Basic Law. I am, however, certainly against canceling the Netanyahu trial.

"As a former justice minister, I also knew how to work with the appointment system that exists in the Supreme Court. The Likud can promote its agenda with the existing system. Until now, I didn't understand why there was a need to change."

Future of housing prices

The outgoing interior minister estimates that the increase in housing prices will moderate this year, but there may be a drop in prices.

"This week I passed the baton to Minister Arye Deri and was informed that this year we broke an all-time record in apartment planning. Over 155,000 were approved by planning committees and over 100,000 were sold.

"We did not anticipate the price increase until now, which was crazy," she said. "It's all a matter of supply and demand. Before we entered, we marketed 50,000 apartments, and then 100,000 a year. I was surprised. I did not think that the increase would reach numbers over 20% a year."

Regarding visas from the United States, she said: "It remains stuck because Netanyahu and the opposition blocked the legislation so that I would not receive credit for the move. Two laws need to be finalized and the technological infrastructure for transferring information to the US needs to be established. It will be possible to get the visa exemption during 2023."