Israel’s Religious Zionist Party (HaTzionut HaDatit), led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, held its internal primary on Monday at Jerusalem’s Ramada Hotel, where lawmakers and party members cast ballots.
Settlements and National Missions Minister Orit Strock came in first place, followed by Knesset members Simcha Rothman, Zvi Sukkot, Ohad Tal and Omer Rahamim, the director general of the Yesha Council, an umbrella organization representing Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.
The party’s slate for the Oct. 27 election is not yet final, however. Smotrich, who will head the list, is expected to reserve a spot for Tzvika Mor, father of former hostage Eitan Mor. Tzvika Mor, who co-founded the Tikva Forum, which advocated increased military pressure on Hamas to secure the release of those the terrorist group took hostage on Oct. 7, 2023, joined the party in May.
“We are in an election campaign that pits the right against the left. The left wants to establish a Palestinian state, dismantle our communities and farms, shut down our institutions and undermine our Jewish identity,” Smotrich, who also serves as a minister in the Defense Ministry overseeing civilian affairs in Judea and Samaria, told JNS after casting his vote.
“They say it themselves. Look at what the candidates elected by the Democrats Party, and those elected alongside Gadi Eisenkot in his party, are saying. They speak of establishing a Palestinian state and describe [Palestinian Authority chief] Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] as a partner,” he continued.
“I urge the people of Israel not to be complacent, so we do not wake up—as we did after the 1992 elections—to a left-wing government backed by Meretz and the Arab parties, which, God forbid, we would regret for decades. With God’s help, we will build a strong Religious Zionist Party that will serve as the backbone of the national camp,” he added.
The Religious Zionist Party, a national-religious faction in the coalition government whose term ended earlier this month, ran on a joint slate with Otzma Yehudit and Noam in the 2022 election. The alliance won 14 Knesset seats before the three parties later split into separate parliamentary factions.
A total of 172 members of the Religious Zionist Party Central Committee were eligible to vote. Some cast their ballots earlier in Shoham, while the remainder voted at the Ramada Hotel or electronically. Voting closed at 7:30 p.m. Each voter was permitted to select up to five candidates from a field of 10.
“I feel good. I’m grateful for the trust the voters have placed in me, but there is still a great deal of work ahead. This is only the beginning of the journey. We need to become a large faction, win the election and form the next government,” RZP MK Sukkot told JNS after the results were announced.
The party’s platform calls for strengthening Israel’s Jewish identity, reforming the judicial system, expanding Jewish communities in the Negev, Galilee and Judea and Samaria, and promoting Torah study, religious education, agriculture, immigrant absorption and support for charitable organizations.
“The main question is whether Israel will remain a democracy or become a country led by unelected officials. I hope we succeed in fixing the system so Israel is a true democracy, where people get what they voted for when they cast their ballots,” RZP MK Tal told JNS during the vote on Sunday night.
Recent polls project the party will win between four and five seats in the next Knesset.
“We will continue working on the issues I focused on in the last government and the one before—national resilience and personal resilience. We are strengthening our society, as well as the Negev and the Galilee,” RZP MK Michal Woldiger told JNS.
“In the end, with God’s help, our strength, and our connection to the land—but above all because of our people—we will prevail,” she added.
