PODCAST PLAYBACK — Outgoing MK Michael Oren discussed why he isn’t running in the April elections and what’s next for him on the Jewish Journal’s Two Nice Jewish Boys podcast with Naor Meningher and Eytan Weinstein:

“My party (Kulanu headed by Moshe Kahlon) sort of disintegrated. It didn’t deliver on the promise it made… I was there to deal with diplomacy, but as a member of the party, I suffered the consequences. So the party doesn’t look like it’s going to make it into the next Knesset. But it doesn’t have any interest in foreign policy and that’s where I come in. I might have stood a chance for the primaries in Likud but there are currently about 20 candidates for every position in the Likud, and my ability to maybe get into Knesset in a position that actually would have influenced foreign policy and influence decision making on a national level was limited almost to naught.”

Q: So you’re not saying you’re done with politics?

MO: “Not in the least. It’s just a hiatus for now. My political career has just begun, and I’m already aiming for the next Knesset after the [upcoming] one and I will build a base that will be wider and more effective… I can write books that can influence many, many thousands of people, I can appear on TV, and I can speak my mind – things I couldn’t do when I was in politics… One of the most difficult things in politics was that as a member of the government I can’t publish books. I can write them but I can’t publish them. And I write every morning… And yes, I have written some books and now I will be able to publish them.” [JewishJournal]