Israeli Elections
Ahead of the party’s Feb. 11 primaries, Knesset member Eitan Cabel says, “We must not let the Labor party die.”
Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked’s new party is projected to win eight Knesset seats, while Jewish Home, from which they split, would win only four seats.
Labor Party leader Avi Gabbay’s decision to dissolve Zionist Union earns scathing criticism from party officials, who were not consulted • “That’s not how you do things, especially things like this,” one MK says • Gabbay’s future in Labor remains unclear.
“With her, we are building today the dream team of the Israeli right in order to expand the right-wing block, and so that Israel can be triumphant again,” said Education Minister Naftali Bennett.
The latest polling has suggested that Moshe Ya’alon would fail to clear the 3.25 percent minimum vote threshold needed to enter the Knesset.
The recent shifts are likely only the first in Israel’s rapid election cycle that culminates at the national polls on April 9.
PM Netanyahu names Yoav Gallant as immigration and absorption minister, which allows him to keep his seat on the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet • Gallant, the fourth MK to leave Kulanu in recent weeks, has yet to officially confirm his move to Likud.
In the latest political shift ahead of the 2019 Israel elections, Zionist Union chairman Avi Gabbay issued an unexpected announcement that he would dissolve his partnership with Hatnua chair Tzipi Livni.
He has never held public office; his political, economic and social views are virtually unknown. Yet his newly established party is already outpolling current opposition parties.
After two Habayit Hayehudi ministers quit party to launch New Right party, Likud ministers say the move will “hand votes to the left.”
Jewish Home Party leaders Naftali Bennett (Education and Diaspora Affairs Minister) and Ayelet Shaked (Justice Minister ) announced on Saturday night that they were leaving the religious party to start a “New Right” party they hope can unite religious and secular Israelis.
Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit is currently reviewing police recommendations to file corruption charges against the prime minister in three investigations.
