The small religious-nationalist parties in Israel joined forces late Wednesday ahead of the country's unprecedented third straight election in one year.
The New Right, National Union, and Habayit Hayehudi parties announce they would retain the Yamina ticket under which the vied in the September 2019 parliamentary elections, again excluding the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, which said it would run independently. It did so in the previous elections and did not win enough votes to meet the prerequisite four-Knesset-seat electoral threshold of 3.25%
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Wednesday was the last day for parties to register their slates for the elections for the 23rd Knesset.
A total of 30 political parties have thrown their hat in the ring, promising the election campaign will feature heavyweights such as Likud and Blue and White, sectorial staples Shas, United Torah Judaism, and Yisrael Beytenu, the Joint Arab List, the national-religious Yanima faction, and the left's newly united Labor-Meretz-Gesher slate; as well as dozens of tiny niche factions whose chances of entering parliament are slim.
The smaller right-wing parties have been struggling to find their footing in the political chaos that has followed the April 2019 general elections.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party won the elections but he was unable to form a government. The snap elections held on Sept. 17 gave Likud a razor-thin victory, but Netanyahu was again unable to secure a coalition. Challenger Blue and White leader Benny Gantz was also unable to form a government, and for the first time in Israel's history, another vote was called for March 2.
Fearing that they will fail to meet the electoral threshold Habayit Hayehudi, National Union, New Right, and far-right Otzma Yehudit, attempted to form various joint slates, none of which proved stable.
The New Right had initially announced an independent bid, while Habayit Hayehudi and the National Union pursued a merger.
When negotiations failed on Tuesday, the National Union said it would team with the New Right, leaving Habayit Hayehudi to explore joining forces with Otzma Yehudit.
The latter, which comprises self-described disciples of the late extremist rabbi Meir Kahane, is seen by nearly all members of parliament as something of a "red flag," – a party whose ideology is such that they cannot reconcile including it in the coalition.
Yamina insiders expressed concerns that including Otzma Yehudit on the faction's Knesset list would undermine its electoral base, prompting Bennett, named Yamina's leader ahead of the March 2 vote, to declare that he will not agree to any merger that includes Otzma Yehudit.
The prolonged negotiations between the New Right, National Union, and Habayit Hayehudi, which left Otzma Yehudit in the dark regarding its fate until late Wednesday, eventually saw Yamina and Otzma Yehudit submit their faction slates to the Central Election Committee just moments before the midnight registration deadline.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reportedly instrumental in ensuring that the smaller right-wing party vied as one faction in the March elections.
Netanyahu met with New Right leader Naftali Bennett and Habayit Hayehudi leader Rafi Peretz to personally convince them to overcome their differences.
Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben-Gvir was furious to learn that Peretz joined forces with Bennett and National Union leader Bezalel Smotrich, saying that "Rabbi Rafi stabbed me in the back."
Netanyahu commended Peretz, saying he "showed leadership and did the right thing."
Peretz took to Facebook to explain his decision, writing, "There are moments in a man's life when he must decide against all odds. With a heavy heart, I made one of the most difficult decisions of my life for one and only reason – [to better serve] religious Zionism, Jewish identity and the Land of Israel."
The joint Yamina slate "will save Israel from a left-wing government that will destroy any trace of the people's Jewish identity and that will negotiate with terrorist supporters," he said.
