As the deadline by which all parties must present the Central Election Committee with their Knesset lists – Aug. 1 by midnight – nears, the pressure on the smaller right-wing parties to unite so as not to lose votes is growing, but to no avail. While the New Right, Habayit Hayehudi and National Union parties have merged under the name United Right, the far-right Otzma Yehudit party has seemingly declared merger negotiations a failure.
Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben-Gvir sought to reserve the fifth and 11th slots on United Right's list, but the latter's counteroffer included the eighth and 13th slots and a promise that the faction's top-four candidates – Ayelet Shaked (New Right), Rafi Peretz (Habayit Hayehudi), Bezalel Smotrich (National Union) and Naftali Bennett (New Right) - would resign as MKs if they are made ministers, so as to ensure Otzma Yehudit's members would serve in parliament.
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Ben-Gvir reportedly rejected the offer and plans to vie in the Sept. 17 election independently.
Speaking with party members, Ben-Gvir said, "I thought Ayelet Shaked could lead and bring all the right-wing parties together, but apparently I was wrong. Anyone who wants to run the country has to first demonstrate responsibility within the party. I was amazed to learn that she won't do that.
"I have never seen negotiations like these," Ben-Gvir, a lawyer, continued. "They [United Right] didn't talk to me for over a month and a half and when they finally did, they wouldn't budge an inch. I don't care about titles; all I want is reasonable slots to that the people who vote for Otzma Yehudit will come to the polls and ensure a victory for the Right."
Commenting on the issue, Smotrich said that the National Union "was willing to give up the fifth slot, but we couldn't do that because we signed a deal" with New Right and Habayit Hayehudi.
On Wednesday, Moshe Feiglin announced that his Zehut party will run independently rather than merge with United Right. Zehut's list includes 15 members. The party failed to pass the 3.25% or four-seat electoral threshold in April's election.
Meanwhile, Peretz stressed that the United Right will only recommend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to President Reuven Rivlin as the candidate best suited to form the government.
He further warned that Yisrael Beytenu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman's political zigzagging "would lead us down the path of a second disengagement. … The results a left-wing government would strive to achieve could be devastating to the settlement enterprise."
