The joint slate of the Religious Zionism and Zehut parties, headed by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and former lawmaker Moshe Feiglin, was submitted on Tuesday to the Knesset’s Central Elections Committee ahead of Israel’s 26th Knesset election on Oct. 27 and before the official registration period closed at 10 p.m.
Following Smotrich and Feiglin at the top of the joint list, respectively, Settlements and National Missions Minister Orit Strock was placed third, followed by MK Simcha Rothman in fourth place.
Filling the No. 5 spot on behalf of the Religious Zionism Party is Tzvika Mor, a former leader of the Tikva Forum, which advocated for maintaining military pressure on Hamas rather than agreeing to partial hostage-release and ceasefire deals. Mor is the father of Eitan Mor, who was abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, while working as a security guard at the Supernova music festival near the Gaza border.
Another new addition to Smotrich’s faction is Lt. Col. (res.) Itamar Eitam, a reservist brigade commander and co-founder of the Generation of Victory reservists movement. Eitam, the son of former minister and lawmaker Brig. Gen. (res.) Efraim “Effie” Eitam, received the sixth spot on the list.
Reut Ben Haim, co-founder of Tzav 9, an organization that sought to halt supplies delivered into the Gaza Strip while the hostages were held in captivity, was placed ninth.
Candidates running on behalf of Feiglin’s Zehut Party include Rabbi Yitzhak Zaga, who received the eighth spot, and Omer Patziniach Waldman, a reservist IDF officer who helped lead the Generation of Victory reservists movement in the aftermath of the Hamas-led cross-border attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. She was placed 10th on the slate.
On Monday, Smotrich welcomed Maj. Gen. (res.) Yossi Bachar to his party in a Facebook post. Bachar, a resident of Kibbutz Be’eri who defended his community on Oct. 7 and whose mother was murdered during the Hamas massacre, was not included on the list. According to Ynet, he did not seek a realistic spot but only wanted to express his support for the party.
The first 15 names on the list are:
- Bezalel Smotrich
- Moshe Feiglin
- Orit Strock
- Simcha Rothman
- Tzvika Mor
- Itamar Eitam
- Zvi Sukkot
- Yitzhak Zaga
- Reut Ben Haim
- Omer Patziniach Waldman
- Arcady Mutter
- Ohad Tal
- Roei Kirshberg
- Omer Rahamim
- Sima Hasson
