Two senior Israeli ministers announced Saturday that they were leaving their party, Habayit Hayehudi, and launching their own party to run in the upcoming elections, hoping to present a hard-line alternative to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling Likud party.
Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who heads Habayit Hayehudi, and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked announced their plans to split from the party and form a new list of candidates.
Habayit Hayehudi is a hard-line nationalist party especially popular with religious voters and settlers. Bennett and Shaked hope that their new movement, named The New Right, will have broader appeal to both religious and secular voters.
In a press conference Saturday evening, Bennett described the initiative as "a new party of religious and secular together."
Speaking of Habayit Hayehudi, Shaked said, "We tried to establish a true partnership between secular and religious Israelis. Sadly, it didn't work. So we are establishing the new party for secular and religious Israelis together, a party where secular and religious members will be equal. It will generate the same kind of true partnership that Bennett and I share."
Bennett said the new party will be "a right-wing party. Period. No ifs, ands or buts. A party that supports the State of Israel without compromise. Against a Palestinian state. Period. Against releasing thousands of terrorists in exchange deals. In favor of tradition, the people of Israel and the State of Israel. If this party had existed 13 years ago, Israel would never have pulled out of Gaza."
Commentators noted Sunday that after the elections, Bennett and Shaked and their new party may rejoin former Habayit Hayehudi colleagues in a far-right bloc heading into coalition negotiations with the presumed winner of the elections, Netanyahu.
Bennett has been the leader of Habayit Hayehudi ("The Jewish Home") since 2012, and Shaked is one of the country's most popular politicians.
Habayit Hayehudi has been a partner in the past two Israeli coalition governments, both headed by Netanyahu. But Bennett and Shaked, both former aides to Netanyahu, have often been at odds with their former boss.
Bennett has accused Netanyau's government of showing too much restraint toward violence from the Gaza Strip and has called for a much tougher response to Palestinian border protests and rocket fire. He is also an outspoken opponent of Palestinian independence.
At the news conference, Bennett said Netanyahu takes his religious partners for granted and believes he has them in his "pocket."
Early polls have found Likud to be far ahead of all challengers and poised to lead the next government. If Bennett can siphon away Likud votes, he could be an influential member of the next coalition and be in a stronger position to shape government policies.
Prior to Bennett's announcement, polls predicted that Habayit Hayehudi would win about eight of the 120 Knesset seats – the same number it currently holds – in the April 9 election, trailing Netanyahu's Likud and at least three center-left parties.
"Over the past year, and more intensely in recent months, the era of our great influence came to an irreversible end," Shaked said at the press conference. "In the past, we were able to prevent the release of terrorists and we succeeded in stemming the advance toward an independent Palestinian state. But gradually, we lost our power to influence. Netanyahu realized that he has the religious Zionist camp in his pocket. No matter how much he abuses them, they will always follow him."
Bennett criticized Netanyahu's decision last week to call early elections.
"Just a few weeks ago, Netanyahu said in a very special address that Israel was in a state of national emergency. He said it was a time for sacrifices and that there would be victims and therefore it is absolutely not the right time to hold elections this year.
"He sent forward rabbis and the head of the National Security Council to warn of the terrible threat that Israel faces, and the good Zionist public stood at attention. It was because of this message that we decided to back down and remain in the coalition despite everything we believe in. Four weeks later, when Netanyahu decided that elections would be good for him personally, suddenly there is no national emergency, no victims, no nothing," Bennett said.
