The short-lived political partnership between Zionist Spirit party leader Ayelet Shaked and recent ally Yoaz Hendel came to an end on Sunday.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Just four days before the deadline for submitting party lists for the upcoming November election, the politicians traded mutual accusations, indicating that they will each lead their own party, neither of which is expected to garner the necessary four seats and enter the next Knesset.
The alliance ends a month-and-a-half after its formation. The latest opinion polls predict the party will win only 1.1% of the vote. If these forecasts are true, it means that the Zionist Spirit party will fall well below the eligibility threshold.
The major disagreement between Shaked, who also serves as Interior Minister, and Hendel, the country's Communications Minister, is over the party's support for a possible right-wing government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, to which Hendel is strongly opposed.
The party leader said she took the initiative for the break-up, on the grounds that her ex-political partner "remained a prisoner of the 'Everything but Bibi' camp," referring to Netanyahu, the Opposition Leader and former prime minister.
While Yamina, Shaked's former party, played an essential role in forming the outgoing coalition government which took Netanyahu out of the premiership, she said that she is ready to join a narrow coalition led by the leader of Likud and including far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Confirming that she was ready to enter a future Netanyahu government, Ayelet Shaked said, "In the event that a government of national unity fails to be formed after the next election, Yoaz Hendel wanted to lead the country to another election rather than form a right-wing government. This option is inconceivable."
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yair Lapid met with left-wing leaders Merav Michaeli (Labor) and Zehava Galon (Meretz) in an attempt to persuade the two parties to run together in the November elections. The meeting lasted less than an hour and no breakthrough was reached.
Labor leader Merav Michaeli opposes the merger saying, "There is no logic in such a run."
"The only time we tried, it failed. It brought much fewer seats and Bibi. Last time, we ran separately and won 13 seats, and this will happen again," she said.
Lapid has said that a merger between the two would not harm the number of seats they would potentially gain.
Galon has been open in the past about her desire for the parties to merge, saying in an interview with i24NEWS, "If I see that there is a possibility of Benjamin Netanyahu's return to power, I will give priority to strengthening the opposition bloc by accepting an alliance with the Labor Party."
Channel 12 published a Friday poll that showed 45% of center-to-left voters favor a merger between Labor and Meretz.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
