Deliberations on MK Limor Son Har-Melech's "death penalty for terrorists" bill commenced Monday morning before the National Security Committee under Chairman MK Zvika Fogel.

The Otzma Yehudit MKs' decision to come sporting noose-shaped lapel pins was supposed to show their determination to secure capital punishment for terrorists and conveying the message that "terrorists are condemned to die." The pin bears the same color as that worn over the past two years in solidarity with the Gaza hostages held by Hamas.

During the hearing, Ben-Gvir declared, "We all wore these pins, which represent one method we'll employ to carry out the terrorist death penalty statute. Naturally we have the guillotine option, the electric chair option, and lethal injection as well. Since reports emerged that physicians refused to participate in implementing the law, I've fielded 100 inquiries from doctors asking Itamar, just say when."

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Otzma Yehudit, led by Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, announced Wednesday that it would not attend the parliament and will hold a special faction meeting in the southern city of Sderot to protest what it said was a "weak response" to the recent escalation in Gaza.

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Slamming the government for not using more force, Otzma Yehudit issued the following statement: "First they said there is judicial reform, then Ramadan, but now there is no reason why Israel should shy away from a powerful retaliation." The party noted that its members would not attend critical votes in the Knesset plenum on Wednesday in order to voice its disapproval, although the Coalition is expected to have enough hands to avoid legislative setbacks.

Another prominent lawmaker, Orit Strock from the Religious Zionism Party, said, "The government is following the same path as the previous government; Gaza has not been paying the price for Hamas' ongoing terrorism."

On Tuesday and early Wednesday, more than 100 rockets were fired on Israel by terrorist groups in response to the death of a Palestinian prisoner who had been hunger-striking in Israeli prison and had refused treatment. One person was severely injured by the projectiles, which prompted Israel to launch massive air strikes on some 20 targets overnight. An unofficial calm has been in place since dawn.

Earlier on Tuesday, Likud MK Danny Danon also voiced disapproval of the government's handling of the situation. "Ramadan is over. The excuses are over. There is no longer any reason for restraint. Now is the time to strike hard at those who seek to harm us," he tweeted. On Wednesday, he blasted Prime Minister Benajmin Netanyahu while speaking with i24NEWS, saying there is a need to "build deterrence."

"The terror organizations were the ones who actually decided when we started this cycle and when we ended. I think we should have responded with much more intensity and power to send a very clear message to Hamas and the PIJ organizations in Gaza that we will not tolerate attacks against civilians in Israel," he said.

Residents of Sderot, who also criticized the Coalition for its response to the rockets and are planning to hold a demonstration at 8 p.m. local time.

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"We will not allow organizations and people with violent goals to maintain a presence on Facebook," the social media giant said in a statement.

"We removed Baruch Marzel and Michael Ben-Ari from our platforms for their ongoing support for the Kach and Kahane Chai movements – organizations defined as terrorist organizations according to US and Israeli law."

Ben-Ari blasted the move, saying: "Facebook, through its policy of terrorism support, lending a hand to Hezbollah, Hamas, Haaretz newspaper, and [Ra'am party chief] Mansour Abbas – and they delete my account on false pretenses following complaints from supporters of terrorism on the Israeli Left."

He said: "They deleted a page with 57,000 followers, without a complaint about any specific post. We haven't yet had the last word.

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A month ahead of the March 23 Knesset election, Israel Hayom joined leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party Itamar Ben-Gvir for a day of campaigning.

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"If only 20% of the people we met today who said they would vote for me, do, we're in good shape," he says when the day is over. 

"That 20%, I think, will join the Religious Zionist party and give us seven seats," he says. 

It is impossible to ignore the enthusiasm of the crowds that met Ben-Gvir on a tour of cities in Israel's south. But even if everyone who likes him wants to vote for the list he has joined, it's not certain they will know to pick the ballot labeled "Religious Zionist." Ben-Gvir, who was met with excited shouts on visits to Dimona, Netivot, and Beersheba, is admired there not because he is a religious Zionist. It's doubtful he is seen here as belonging to religious Zionism, or whether the people realize that there is now a list that bears that name, as they shout "Otzma Yehudit!" (Jewish Power). 

"In these areas, religious Zionist is seen as something for certain sectors. I connect with them as people, and they connect to me as someone who understands the specific troubles they are confronting," he says. 

An hour earlier, in the Beersheba market, Ben-Gvir had his picture taken with an elderly vegetable seller who, like many others, promised to vote for him. When Ben-Gvir moved away, I asked the vegetable man if he really meant it. 

"Yes, I'll vote for him, because he understands our problems here in Beersheba, and he'll take care of them." 

Q: What unique problems do you have here? 

"There is a lot of assimilation. They [referring to Bedouin] want to go out with our girls. Their crazy behavior on the roads. And the thefts."

Q: And why is Ben-Gvir the one who will take care of it? 

"Because he is the only one who understands that it's terrible." 

Q: And his public image doesn't put you off? 

"Look, Ben-Gvir – he has the problem of extremism. He's very extreme. And the Palestinians are a lot better than the Bedouin. Here in the shuk [market], I'm friends with all the Palestinians. But he doesn't talk about the Palestinians any more. He knows that the Bedouin are a much bigger problem." 

Q: And you believe him? 

"I'm afraid he won't make it past the minimum threshold. The polls in the news don't always tell the truth. 

Q: Who will you vote for? 

"For Ben-Gvir. He'll help us with the Bedouin. He's the only one who understands their language." 

Ben-Gvir, 44, was born in Mevasseret Zion, outside Jerusalem, to a Kurdish Jewish mother and an Iraqi father. He has one older brother, who has volunteered to be his personal driver during the campaign. He graduated from the secular Ort high school in Jerusalem, and only found religion at age 17. The IDF didn't draft him because he was already a leader of the Kahane youth movement. 

"My mother took it hard. After she died, my wife found letters she had sent to then-Chief of Staff Ehud Barak. She told him that he, when she was a member of the IZL, had been arrested by the British for hanging posters – so why wouldn't the Jewish state draft her son?" he recalls. 

Ben-Gvir lives in Givat Ha'avot neighborhood on the edge of Kiryat Arba, but his campaign office is in central Jerusalem and he claims that half of his prospective voters are secular, and many live inside the Green Line. 

The day begins with a meeting with campaign volunteers in Dimona. From there, we went on to Netivot for a meeting with business owners, a quick falafel for campaign workers, and then a parade – with flags – through the city, a kind of celebration of democracy. Women in Volvos and bus drivers honk and blow kisses when they see him. Young people stop for selfies; Haredim extend elbows for a "corona shake." 

Ben-Gvir doesn't miss anyone. "I need you," he tells everyone repeatedly, and they smile and promise to be there for him. Given that in the last election, his party won nearly 19,000 votes, he has something to prove from the No. 3 slot on the united Religious Zionist Party list. 

'This time, the real thing is going to happen' 

The only opposition to Ben-Gvir comes after an hour of marching. Two men playing backgammon on the sidewalk scold him about an incident that happened shortly before the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated: "You tore the emblem off Rabin's car" He walks up to them, shakes their hands, explains that he wasn't the one who did it and that it's important to get the facts right. 

Q: People hold a grudge against you over the Rabin assassination. How did you avoid prison? 

"Because I didn't tear the emblem off of Rabin's car. I said so in TV studios at the time. The one who pulled it off and admitted it to the police was some young guy who the media went easy on because his father was a supporter of Shimon Peres. Today, he's one of our activists, and so is his father." 

Q: Are they sorry for what they did?

"Absolutely, yes. I just brought it to the media and said that if people could get to it, they could get to Rabin. By the way, what I originally said was that if I could get to Rabin, I'd yell at him. That's all. But they cut it off in editing. And 25 years have passed. I'm not there. They're still trying to delegitimize me." 

Q: Possibly, but that's what's building you up. 

"There's no doubt that the attacks from the Left don't hurt my base. From the start of the campaign, Yair Lapid has tweeted, if I'm not mistaken, more than 40 tweets about me. What I like best are the columns in Haaretz because they're hypocrisy at its best – the knights of free speech being outraged about 'How can you give him a platform?' By the way, 15 years ago, it would have worked. I used to be an outcast." 

Q: You are consistently in the headlines. 

"It wasn't always easy. I'll give you an example: In 2008 I started a campaign that said that if we free terrorists, Marwan Barghouti for example, then [Rabin assassin] Yigal Amir should be freed. I'm not in favor of releasing him, but I wanted people to be shocked at the possibility of freeing murderers. No one covered that campaign. I went to the Army Radio correspondent, and he told me candidly: I was ordered not to give you a platform.

"Then my young wife called what was then the program with the biggest audience. She told the host: 'I'm a student at the University of Haifa and you won't believe what I'm seeing here! Posters of a far-right activist!' They put her on the air, and she read out the poster that had supposedly been put up. I called the program to respond, and I said, 'There are no limits to your audacity – you put the left-winger on the air, and not me?' They said, 'There's no time, but we'll let you respond on the evening show.'" 

Q: And that how you became popular? Because of the media's loathing? The Left is against you because you're a follower of Meir Kahane and the Right is against you because you lose votes for it. 

"Everyone knows that I speak what is in my heart. I say what I think. A lot of the people of Israel connect to it. It's not Kiryat Arba and Yitzhar, it's Netivot and Ofakim and Beit Shean. I walk around Tel Aviv, not only in the south, and people admire and love me. There are also people who say, 'We don't agree with you, but we admire your honesty." 

Ben-Gvir used to have a picture of Baruch Goldstein, a Kahane follower responsible for a massacre that killed 29 Muslim worshippers and wounded 125 at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron in 1994, on his wall. 

Q: You took the picture down. Was that a violation of your principles? 

"Ultimately, I didn't want my children to get the message that I was happy about the deaths of Arabs." 

Q: What has changed? You were on the radical fringes of society. 

"The profession. Studying law. I think that practicing law changed a few things in my life. I didn't turn into a Meretz member, but it changes you. When you're inside the system and learn the laws, it's something different." 

Ben-Gvir says he might not have been admitted to the bar if it hadn't been for the late MK Dudu Rotem of YIsrael Beytenu, who was head of the Knesset Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee when the Israel Bar Association wanted to prevent Ben-Gvir from taking the bar exam. 

"I built a practice with my own two hands. I make more than MKs. People are willing to pay a lot, thank God. I told Ayala, my wife, know that we can make a few million in 10 or 15 years, but there's the Knesset. She said, 'Your dream and mine is for you to be in the Knesset to help the Jewish people.'" 

Q: All these years, you've spoken out against the Likud. Where does the sudden support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu come from? 

"To form a right-wing government. If I spoke against Bibi, they'd slander me less." 

Q: But no one in the Likud wants anything to do with you.

"Yes, they're the same people who want me to be the 61st vote that will let them stay on as ministers. But in the current political constellation, I think that if Netanyahu could, he would join Lapid or Gantz or whoever … in 2013, he opted for Lapid, and in 2015 he took Moshe Kahlon and the Likud was saying 'There's no way the justice system can be changed,' and a year ago they said, 'No change is possible because we have Gantz." But now I can be the missing piece of the pie. And maybe then there will be a true right-wing government here."  

Q: As a lawyer, what is your opinion of the Netanyahu cases? 

"Terrible, in my opinion. I feel uncomfortable about the trial and hope that his claims about selective enforcement are accepted. This is a blatant case of that. For years, I've been handling cases like these, but the Likud hasn't done anything about it … Sadly, Netanyahu is being persecuted and is paying the price for his failing to handle incorrect conduct by the legal system." 

Q: So you don't trust Netanyahu. 

"I trust Netanyahu only when I'm watching over him. He makes a lot of declarations that if he were to implement them, reality would be different." 

Q: And thus far he hasn't fulfilled his promises? 

"He has achievements. But when there are people in the south who can't open businesses because of a protection racket, women in south Tel Aviv who don't step outside into the jungle because they're afraid, in the north there's terrorism, and the attorney general is stronger than ever – things need to change." 

Q: What should be changed? 

"There need to be reforms to the legal system. The Supreme Court changes the laws passed by the legislature because they are the true sovereign. What's most important is to change the make-up of the Judges Selection Committee. I completely understand the need for judges with a variety of opinions, and a lot of times I'm happy to appear before the left-wing ones about things that are not ideological, because they accept my clients' cases and everything is great. But most of the Supreme Court justices are on the other side." 

Q: You waited until the last minute to file a petition to disqualify Labor candidate Ibtisam Mara'ana from the party list. Was that a gimmick? 

"Heaven forbid, I'm not comparing, but they disqualified Dr. Michael Ben Ari, Bentzi Gopstein, Baruch Marzel, and her, they leave in? If someone from Otzma Yehudit would have said what Ibtisam said about Zichron Yaakov, but the opposite – that Umm al-Fahm should be destroyed, for example – no judge would have allowed him to stay a candidate for the Knesset, and what's more, a police officer would show up immediately to arrest him." 

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Q: What do you think about Netanyahu taking steps toward the Arabs? 

"I distinguish between the public and the leaders. If he manages to get votes in Nazareth, for example, great. But I won't cooperate with [Ra'am leader] Mansour Abbas. Before the meeting of the committee to disqualify candidates we collected material [on him] and his comments are no gentler than Heba Yazbek or Ahmad Tibi's. One time, he said 'terrorists,' then rushed to apologize and explain that he didn't accept the Jewish terminology and that people who murder Jewish babies were actually freedom fighters. There are things you don't do to win seats." 

Q: Will your bloc with Bezalel Smotrich fall apart after the election? 

"It's a technical bloc. We have our disagreements and our pitfalls. Each of us brings some added value. Bezalel brings the religious Zionists – the mainstream, and I think that religious Zionism isn't just the kippa-wearers or the settlers, but anyone who identified with the values of the Land of the people and the Torah. It's also the people who maintain tradition, say Kiddush Friday night and watch soccer on Saturday morning. Religious Zionism is broader. If we can make connections in every direction, we'll profit hugely." 

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When Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Hagit Moshe was elected leader of Habayit Hayehudi, she became the first woman to lead the national-religious party. And although polls currently predict Habayit Hayehudi will not cross the electoral threshold, a bloody battle is already being waged over its future, as it may even determine the next government's very character, as whoever the party joins or endorses is likely to receive coveted mandates that could make a great difference in the balance of power in the future coalition.

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Some party members, she told Israel Hayom, "spoke about the possibility of joining [Yamina leader Naftali] Bennett, because he is headed for the [role of] prime minister, as opposed to Habayit Hayehudi, which is a sectorial party.

"I appreciate him; he is talented. But he took advantage of Habayit Hayehudi and then threw us away," Mosha said, referring to Bennet's split from the national-religious faction in 2018, along with then-Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked to form the New Right, ratteling Habayit Hayehudi's voter base to its core in the process.

As for the possibility of partnering with Betzalel Smotrich, the hawkish leader of the Religious Zionist Party or with the far-Right Otzma Yehudit party, Moshe did not rule it out but was wary of the move.

Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben-Gvir's "approach is different than mine. All that beliigernace – it's simply not my style or my language. But I'm not rulling it out. There are many bitter pills to swallow" during an elections campaing, she noted.

Moshe spoke in support of the so-called French Law that would prevent a prime minister from being indicted while in office, but was unfazed by projection that her victory in the party parimeries could help Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu form a 61-seat coalition.

"I do this because Habayit Hayehudi is important to me. The fact that it also happens to suit Netanyahu's aspirations is alright. I am not pro-Likud or pro-Netanyahu."

"If [New Hope leader] Gideon Sa'ar joins [Opposition and Yesh Atid leader Yair] Lapid, we will not join him. And if Bennett joins Lapid, we will not go with Bennett."

For Moshe, "Yair Lapid is out of the question, and so is the Joint Arab List."

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The prevailing belief is that Rivlin will be able to squeeze everything possible out of the opportunity. This time, everyone's eyes are on him. After calling for unity and urging the candidates to join hands, the president must, by law, assign on the responsibility of assembling the government.

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Rivlin can decide that given the lack of a clear win, he will give the responsibility of assembling a government to the winner of the election – Benny Gantz, under whom Blue and White became the biggest party. That is what former President Chaim Herzog did in 1984 when he decided to make Shimon Perez responsible for putting together a government when Peres' Labor party received the same number of votes as the Likud under Yitzhak Shamir.

Rivlin could also go with whoever brings in the most recommendations from his fellow MKs. In that case, Netanyahu would appear to have an advantage. He has about 56 seats in his pocket, on the Right and from the haredi parties. Gantz, on the other hand, has only Blue and White and the other two left-wing parties, which give him only about 45 recommendations. And if Gantz doesn't up his number of recommendations, it will be a resounding political failure. Gantz could easily enlist the support of Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman, who shares his message of a unity government without the haredim, as well as the support of the Arab parties (with the possible exception of Balad), which under Ayman Odeh and Ahmad Tibi have been heavily hinting that they wouldn't have a problem recommending Gantz if it helped oust Netanyahu.

It's not certain it would be a boon to either candidate to be the first one assigned to assemble a government. If the first fails, the second will get a chance. When the time allotted by law runs out, there is a difference between someone else being given a chance and knowing that the country will face another election. Party leaders will think twice before calling a third election and putting Israel on the list of politically unstable countries, like Italy.

A mandate from the president isn't the only thing on Netanyahu's mind when he analyzes the election results. Even if he manages to form a government, it will be a coalition that will bind his hands and possibly might not last long. If left-wing figures like Amir Peretz or Gantz become coalition partners, it will mean a freeze on planned reforms to the justice system, law enforcement, and will enable pressure for concessions when the Trump administration unveils its peace plan.

Many media pundits and members of the opposition think that this is a positive development. They see the moves the Right is initiating as designed to make Netanyahu immune from prosecution and allow him to be tried while serving as prime minister, as he works to weaken the court and the prosecution.

Law enforcement and justice officials' war against Netanyahu is a personal one, whose goal is to topple Netanyahu. The moment law enforcement doesn't come up with the goods, they become targets, like the attorney general.

For the Right, depending on left-winger to form a coalition is a major step back from what the right-wing government achieved, and there appeared to be a lot more to come. That is what the Likud supporters meant by their cries of "We don't want unity!" It appears that if Likud supporters were to vote on whether they wanted a unity government or a third election, most would choose the second option.

But as bad, or funny, or bizarre, as that sounds, the possibility of another election in February or March of next year is on the table. As of right now, none of the candidates have a chance of forming a government. Gantz walled himself off by his phone call to Ayman Odeh after the election. Netanyahu closed himself off with leaders of the Right and the haredim and formed an alliance with them. Now he needs them, and they will need him later one. Just like they could decide to join a government under Gantz, he could head them off and join forces with Gantz himself.

As far as Netanyahu is concerned, the only scenario in which he is not prime minister is a third election. The question is – do the other right-wing parties feel the same way? The only coalition Gantz could assemble would be a nearly impossible one: Lieberman and the haredim, or the New Right and Meretz. None of these are combinations that could work together and survive for long. So despite what party leaders were saying just before the election, a third round might be the best option for them.

While Gantz's achievement might be partial, it's the most he could have gotten out of this election. Even in the rosiest scenario, it was clear from the beginning he wouldn't have a coalition unless he went with the Arabs. Gantz's achievement, therefore, is in throwing a wrench into Netanyahu's plans. He could try to break down the right-wing alliance and bring some of its members to his side, or he could try to foment a rebellion in the Likud to have Netanyahu replaced as party leader. If one of those tactics succeeds, it could install him as prime minister, but neither one has much of a chance.

So Gantz has two bad choices: joining a government under Netanyahu and the Right, either with or without Lapid, or a third election. It's unclear which would be worse for him. If he has to run in a third election, it would be the toughest entrée into politics any candidate has ever had. Is Gantz built for a long-term campaign? He might be more tempted by an appointment to the post of defense minister in a Netanyahu-led government that would hold on for a few years.

Gantz would really like for the threat of a third election to spark a revolt in the Likud that would oust Netanyahu. Then he could form a unity government with the new party head. Unless Netanyahu resigns, that's unlikely to happen. The Likud ministers would prefer another election over facing off with Netanyahu. For Netanyahu to be ousted from the party leadership, a senior party member would need to call a primary election. If that happened, most senior Likud members would back Netanyahu.

The failure of the Right in this election stemmed mainly from Netanyahu's scare campaign, which started to sound like he was crying wolf. It was hard to convince supporters that the right-wing government was in danger when he said it twice already, and it turned out not to be. This time, when the right-wing government really was in danger, no one believed it. Likud strongholds in the periphery, in the poorer neighborhoods of major cities, and even in Judea and Samaria saw much lower voter turnout this time than in April. Left-wing areas, however, were fully engaged. A scent of a possible change of government was in the air and everyone lent their hand to the effort. The Arab sector also saw an unusually high rate of participation in the election. Netanyahu thought that the idea of putting cameras in polling stations and pressuring the Arab sector would make them feel desolate, but it did the opposite – it spurred them on to vote.

Just like the possibility of removing Netanyahu as head of the Likud isn't an option, the possibility of Blue and White splitting isn't an option now, either. If anything could help Gantz navigate the intensive months in which he was attacked and slandered from every side, it was the wall-to-wall support he enjoyed from the media from the moment he challenged Netanyahu. Scandals were swept under the rug, he was asked almost no tough questions, and even when he decided to boycott some media outlets he was afraid of, no one gave him a hard time or criticized him for it. So it doesn't look like Gantz is ready to give up his biggest asset, because he knows that the moment he cooperates with Netanyahu, he'll lose the protection he had and he will be marked by the media, as were so many who preceded him, and paid the price.

When Amir Peretz managed to become leader of the Labor party, it was clear to him what the next step was. With every fiber of his being, he wanted to do what he did in the 2006 election – bring Likud supporters to Labor. He set a goal of winning 15 seats, so he should have been disappointed with the results. But Peretz wasn't. He thinks it was a good result. He also thinks he lost a lot of seats to Blue and White but that his aggressive campaigning in Likud areas moved two seats from the Likud to Labor.

Peretz stressed that he wouldn't go back on his promise not to join a government under Netanyahu. Joining the government would have been advantageous to Peretz for many reasons. He would have been proof against being removed as party leader, for example. He would have been promised to be allowed to run for president a year and a half from now. His party colleagues would have received major portfolios like finance or other economic ministries. But Peretz kept his promise. Many of his predecessors hung onto their integrity but not onto power.

When we look at the election results for the Democratic Union, it's hard not to wonder what Ehud Barak's strange political turn meant. He started out as a kind of candidate for prime minister, went on to herald a unification of the Left, and finally joined forces with Meretz and disappeared into oblivion. His associated are convinced that he got back into politics to help bring down Netanyahu.

Others see his political foray as a business venture. In the many years since he last held public office, the former prime minister and defense minister has been forgotten by the public and the media. And nothing is worse for business than when it turns out that the person who was made a director because he could supposedly open doors can at most break into homes. This last run was very valuable for Barak. In three months, he became one of the most interesting, relevant figures in Israeli public life, and perhaps that the point from the beginning.

One of the people who came out of the election disappointed was Ayelet Shaked. The Yamina leader has taken quite the path in the space of a few months, but the election results have put her at an impasse. When party lists were finalized a month and a half ago, it looked as if no one was better for the job than she. Polls were favorable and activists who were hungry for success were mostly willing to swallow the humiliation of her jumping ship from Habayit Hayehudi to found the New Right with Naftali Bennett, and not only welcome her back on the list but to make her head of it. It was so obvious to everyone that she was only one who could lead it to success that Rafi Peretz turned over the keys without a fight and without preconditions.

The division of labor was supposed to have been clear – Peretz and Bezalel Smotrich were to bring in religious Zionist and national haredi voters, and Shaked would bring in the liberal religious and the secular voters, increasing the list's normal electorate.

That didn't happen. Very quickly, Shaked found herself pulled into a sectorial campaign. In the final stretch, the target audience was religious voters only, and she put all her eggs into that basket. Shaked saw how Netanyahu was trying to eat away at her religious Zionist base and she was forced to fight him for that constituency. It's uncertain how many religious Zionist voters moved to the Likud, but there's no doubt that the number of secular voters who switched to Yamina was negligible.

If we're talking about Yamina, we can't avoid mentioning the party that nibbled away at the Right. Up until the last, Netanyahu didn't know what to do about Otzma Yehudit. After he decided to wipe them out, he saw them rising in the polls and took care to make that clear, thinking that the party could bring another four seats to the right-wing bloc.

In the end, it turned out the attention paid to Itamar Ben-Gvir and Otzma Yehudit wasn't worth the energy. After the election, Smotrich rushed to attack Otzma Yehudit, claiming that ego had cost the Right precious seats. The Right did indeed lose seats, but their worth is questionable. In retrospect, Otzma Yehudit "burned" about 80,000 right-wing votes by failing to make it past the minimum electoral threshold. That number proves that Netanyahu was right by saying nothing could help the party. They were too far from the minimum threshold.

The election results also showed that in contrast to what Ben-Gvir had said, the right-wing bloc wouldn't have had 61 seats, even with Otzma Yehudit. Ben-Gvir might have wasted 2.5 right-wing seats, but as things stand, they wouldn't have been enough. Even if he had dropped out of the race and the votes were spread between the other right-wing parties, or if he had made it into the Knesset with four seats of his own, the basic picture – in which the Right doesn't have a majority – wouldn't change.

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Ben-Gvir began his missive by thanking activists: "We worked like David against Goliath in this election, facing enormous systems and huge budgets. The way it looks right now, [a number of voters equal to] two and a half seats voted for our path and our principles. That's because of us."

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"I won't lie – I'm disappointed, sad, and in pain. I thought we could win, but there were those who did everything so that wouldn't happen. First and foremost, Prime Minister Netanyahu, who in an inexplicable step chose to go after us and never stopped attacking, when he should have learned from [Blue and White's] Gantz and Lapid, who embraced [Labor leader] Amir Peretz, who was also hovering over the minimum electoral threshold. Anyone who wants to help the Right doesn't shoot at its own people," Ben-Gvir continued.

He then went on to attack former Education Minister Naftali Bennett and former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, as well as National Union leader Bezalel Smotrich, whom he called "an arrogant braggart."

"Last on the list – members of 'sectarian' media, like B'Sheva or Arutz 7, and of course [journalists] Amit and Haggai Segal, who think that they represent all religious Zionism and did what they accuse the left-wing media of doing."

"We only need to look at the newspaper B'Sheva from last Saturday, where the first column was against Otzma Yehudit, as were the second, third, fourth, and fifth columns," he said.

"Unfortunately, I fear that some of the players I mentioned here don't really want a true right-wing government. My insight is that Netanyahu didn't want us with him, because he doesn't want real change. Smotrich doesn't want anyone next to him who would point out the fact that he is willing to make far-reaching concessions to have a seat in the government, and Bennett calls himself closer to Lapid than to us and didn't want us in the Knesset. It won't help – we'll keep telling the truth and working," Ben-Gvir said in conclusion.

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Speaking to i24NEWS and Israel Hayom in a special election broadcast, Shaked said she has been pushing a plan for years to apply Israeli sovereignty to Area C in the West Bank, which is home to Jewish settlements and accounts for over 60% of the West Bank.

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Under the proposal, which the former justice minister said is Yamina's primary goal, Shaked says Israeli law would be applied to the almost 500,000 Israelis there while citizenship or residency would be offered to the 100,000-200,000 Palestinian residents.

"I think there is a big opportunity to apply Israeli law while President Trump is still in office," Shaked told i24NEWS.

"He has almost two more years in office, let's hope that he will stay more. He is a very good friend of Israel and he has a very supportive team around him that supports Israel."

"There is a big opportunity for us in the next two years to start applying Israeli law even in the consensus area like Gush Etzion or Maaleh Adumim ... We need to start doing it."

Shaked also repeated the arguments she made in an interview to Israel Hayom's weekend supplement, published Friday, in which she said that the far-right Otzma Yehudit should drop out of the election, lest it waste votes and prevent the establishment of a right-wing coalition.

Shaked stressed that polls were no indication of what would actually happen on Election Day.

"In reality, the big parties take votes from the small parties … There is no chance Otzma Yehudit will pass the minimum electoral threshold, so it would be better for them to drop out," she said.

Switching to security policy and the recent escalation along the Gaza Strip border, Shaked said she believes "Israel in the end will have to do a military operation in Gaza."

Israel, she insists, will have to do "something severe that will hurt Hamas," which could include evacuating villages around the Gaza border for a few weeks so the army will be able to act and ensure that Hamas does not get new weapons every year."

This article was originally published by i24NEWS. 

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Likud negotiator Natan Eshel has reportedly pressured Otzma Yehudit Party leader Itamar Ben-Gvir to drop out of the race, while Likud officials are said to have offered Zehut leader Moshe Feiglin an economy-related ministry position, to cover all of his campaign costs to date and legalize personal use of marijuana – one of Zehut's central campaign promises – if his party withdraws.

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The Otzma Yehudit and Zehut parties are unlikely to garner enough seats to enter the Knesset, according to polls published Monday on Channel 11 News. The same poll gave Likud 32 seats, and Blue and White 31.

However, so far neither party has expressed any intention of dropping out.

In a Facebook post, Feiglin wrote "I will not violate my assurance to voters," though "pressure is being applied" with "constant offers." In the same post, he announced a party conference in Tel Aviv on Tuesday to "gather steam for [the] elections."

Ben-Gvir, in a statement following a meeting with Eshel, said that "without Otzma Yehudit there is no right-wing government and Netanyahu cannot form a government."

Each party running for the Knesset compiles a list of 120 potential Knesset members. The number of representatives of each party who actually wind up serving in the Knesset is based on the percentage of the vote the party receives in a Knesset election. The minimum electoral threshold required to enter the Knesset is 3.25% of the vote, meaning that the fewest MKs a given party can have in the Knesset is four. The rules for determining Knesset lists vary from party to party, but most of the major parties allow leaders to reserve spots for specific representatives or representatives of specific sectors such as women, minorities, and immigrants.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Benzi Gopstein, leader of extremist group Lehava ("Flame"), and Baruch Marzel, both members of the far-Right Otzma Yehudit party, were barred for inciting racism against Arabs.

Lehava opposes interfaith and inter-ethnic interaction, relationships and marriages. Its activists often riot outside mixed Jewish-Muslim weddings, as well as along the routes of gay pride parades. 

In its ruling, Sunday, the court stopped short of banning Otzma Yehudit entirely.

Chief Justice Esther Hayut noted that the decision by the extended, nine-judges panel to bar Gopstein's Knesset bid was made unanimously and was based on "overwhelming evidence showing that his statements, as well as his actions as head of Lehava, systematically incite racism against the Arab."  

With regard to Marzel, the court found that "the picture drawn by his statements over the year is one painted with clear and bold colors of racism." 

A separate petition calling for barring Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben-Gvir from running in the election was denied.  

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