Right-wing Knesset members Orit Strock and Avi Dichter plan to submit a draft bill to the Ministerial Committee on Legislation Sunday to revoke convicted terrorists who receive monthly stipends from the Palestinian Authority of their Israeli citizenship.

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In the abstract of the bill, the Religious Zionist Party and Yamina MKs explain that "many [terrorists] who hold Israeli citizenship or are permanent residents receive monthly salaries from the PA as a reward for committing acts of terrorism.

"For example, the terrorists who killed [IDF] soldier Avraham Bromberg in 1980 receive a monthly salary of 12,000 shekels [$3,700] from the PA. According to calculations by the Palestinian Media Watch, by the end of October 2020, the PA had paid the murderers more than NIS 3 million [$914,000] altogether."

Strock and Dichter added, "It is inconceivable that Israeli citizens and [permanent] residents who not only betrayed the state and Israeli society, but also agreed to receive payments from the PA as a reward for committing acts of terrorism ... should continue to hold Israeli citizenship."

The Choose Life Forum, which works with bereaved families and victims of terrorism, sent a letter to committee members, asking them to back the legislative proposal.

"The law is intended to solve a difficult problem that exists today," the letter said, for "the authority to denaturalize terrorists is only given to the Interior Minister ... and in practice, this authority cannot be exercised."

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According to the report, several dozen right-wing activists were protesting outside an auditorium in the central Israeli city of Ramat Hasharon over Tibi's participation in the panel.

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Protesters carried signs accusing Tibi of being a "terrorist" and "murderer," and one sign read,  "You're not wanted here!"

Footage of the scene showed that when Tibi arrived at the auditorium, several police officers had to stand between him and the protesters, who shouted derogatory remarks at him.

The police detained two protesters for questioning for allegedly trying to attack Tibi as he entered the premises.

Later at the speaking event, Tibi said that "if they [Blue and White] had formed a government supported by the Joint Arab List, an Arab MK would have already been murdered."

He further blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for inciting against Arab lawmakers.

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During the meeting of right-wing party leaders, the possibility of Netanyahu giving up his mandate from President Reuven Rivlin to form the next government was raised.

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Likud ministers Yariv Levin and Zeev Elkin argued that Blue and White's negotiation team had canceled the latest meeting because No. 2 on its list, Yair Lapid, had compelled leader Benny Gantz to hold a third election. They said that Lapid did not want Gantz to rotate with Netanyahu for the position of prime minister in a unity government, but in fact, wanted to rotate with Gantz himself in a government without Netanyahu.

The meeting ended with the party leaders agreeing to continue working together.

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Earlier Monday, Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu had been holding consultations about whether or not to fire Smotrich, who also heads the National Union faction in the United Right, over harsh criticism that Smotrich levelled at Netanyahu on Sunday.

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Smotrich called Netanyahu "weak" after the latter decided to cancel an event for the haredi sector in Afula, which was scheduled to be held with completely separate seating for men and women.

A few Likud officials told Israel Hayom that "Smotrich went too far."

"True, we're in an election, and everyone has to sharpen their message to their voters, but Smotrich went too far. There is a way to speak about the prime minister, even in a situation like this," the officials said.

On Twitter, Smotrich said, "This is a stupid legal system. I'm sorry, but despite my status, I can't find a gentler world. Progressive, fundamentalist, stupidity … the prime minister is weak. 100% of this nonsense is happening on his watch. Zero leadership. Zero governance. Deputy Attorney General Dina Zilber [who has publicly backed a High Court ruling against gender-based separation at public events] is the real prime minister."

Smotrich went on to tweet that he urged the leaders of the nation's religious and haredi parties to "inform the prime minister, today, that they will make joining any future government under him conditional on making the necessary changes to the law to stop the 'secular coercion' and allow the religious public to live according to its beliefs."

Approximately an hour later, Smotrich tweeted again, somewhat softening his tone toward Netanyahu.

"I realize that there are some who were offended by the tweet on behalf of the prime minister. I'm one of those who never stops praising his diplomatic capabilities. But he can't be given credit for what is good here and exempted from responsibility for what is bad. For 10 years he has allowed the court system to destroy our wonderful country," Smotrich tweeted.

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He isn't changing his agenda or apologizing for it. Even if his messages are hard for some of the population to hear, he still gives it to them straight-up.

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Last Tuesday, a day after it was announced that he had been appointed transportation minister and a member of the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet, Smotrich was already sitting down with outgoing Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz and spending hour after hour listening to representatives of the major transportation companies in Israel; the Israel Airports Authority; the Trans-Israel Highway; the Ayalon Highways Co.; and more. He sat, he listened, and he asked questions. He knows he was handed to lead the ministry for only three months ("maybe more, if I fall in love with it"), but he is already envisioning a train that leaves from northern Israel, makes a few stops in Samaria settlements, and continues southward.

"It appears that the ministry is functioning excellently," he says after a long day of meetings.

"What needs to happen is for everything to continue as is until I gain some insights. The minister sets the policy on some things, and those issues must be studied. For example, when there's a big [infrastructure] plan and a question about whether to build at night only to avoid traffic tie-ups, in which case it takes four years, or build around the clock and finish in six months at the cost of complicating citizens' lives. There are planning and budget questions. It's not easy," he says.

Q: Is there also a question about work on Shabbat?

"It hasn't come up. The matter of Shabbat has nothing to do with me. The one who approves work on Shabbat is the labor and welfare minister. I don't encounter that dilemma."

The Transportation Ministry was not Smotrich's first choice, but he appears to be enthusiastic, although he says he hasn't given up on the justice portfolio.

"The day after the election we'll see how strong we are politically, and then decide. But I'm going into the Transportation Ministry with a lot of passion, with sky-high motivation. If I see that I'm succeeding, I might stay there."

Smotrich says that his new ministry has almost unparalleled capabilities to carry out projects that affect Israelis' day-to-day lives: "Roads, streets, trains, ports, licenses, car checks. Above all, the Transportation Ministry can implement Zionist and settlement values."

"If you want to bring Jews to the Negev and the Galilee, you need more roads. If you want to bring another half a million people to Judea and Samaria, you need to make sure there are roads. Settlements comes after roads and public transportation. This ministry has great civil, Zionist, and settlement 'input.' The overreaching goal is to allow every citizen to get from one point to another in the fastest, cheapest, and safest way."

Q: You will be criticized for investing millions in building roads to remote settlements on the edges of Judea and Samaria.

"That doesn't scare me. In my four years in the Knesset, I've done what I believed in … There is a lot of room here to implement an ideology and a worldview. If you want to bring 20,000 Jews to the Golan Heights you need to create better transportation."

"When Yisrael Katz was waging fierce battles over building Highway 6 in the North, he did so because of a Zionist worldview. True, it was less financially feasible than building more public transportation routes in central Israel, but some things are more ideologically rather than financially sound."

"If you bring good highways to the south, within six or seven years you could build two more cities in the Arava. A train from Dimona to Eilat would be a revolution. By extending infrastructure, you can determine the face of Israel. Kiryat Gat used to be considered 'South,' and now it's a suburb of Tel Aviv, because there is transportation. If you want to break out of the confines of the area between Gedera and Hadera, the 'state of Tel Aviv,' it [transportation] is a great tool."

Q: Do you feel that people are afraid of you?

"On one hand, they're afraid of me, and on the other, everyone likes to work with me. I passed the most laws in the last Knesset, significant laws. I'm here to work. True, I'm an ideologue, I have a well-ordered outlook, I say what I think even when it upsets others. No one can deny that I'm here to work."

Q: Your name has become synonymous with the country becoming radicalized.

"'Smotrich' has become synonymous with someone who knows how to get things done, that's why they're afraid. There are people in politics who are eccentric, who make a lot of noise but don't work. No one is afraid of them. I get attacked because I'm here to work."

Q: You get attacked because of your nationalist-haredi, conservative, and extremist views. On the Friday evening news panels, they use the phrase "a government of Smotriches" to mean a government of extremists.

"[Journalist] Amnon Abramovich is an ultra-radical leftist. 'Extremist' is relative. I don't think I'm extremist. I'm religious, devout, right-wing, Zionist, nationalist, with a clear and determined worldview, with self-confidence. I don't get confused, don't apologize, and don't hide behind my positions."

"However, I'm very pragmatic. I understand the gap between ideology and implementation. The goal is to hold onto the great dream, the great vision, but know that implementing it means two steps forward and one step backward – through patience, dialogue, and compromise. The attempts to demonize me are ridiculous."

"I want to apply Israeli sovereignty to all of Judea and Samaria, step by step. Through one [settlement] regulation bill, then another. I don't run around, shout and wave flags. That's why I'm singled out: 'He doesn't just talk, he also does stuff.'"

Q: Maybe some people are afraid that bit by bit, the haredi-nationalist-religious camp will grow and Israel will become a state governed by Jewish law.

"This 'state of Jewish law' is a scare campaign. I don't know what a 'state of Jewish law' is. It's something that was made up by someone who has been in politics for 30 years and left no impression [a reference to Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman] and who is looking for attention and a way of making it past the minimum electoral threshold."

"Even my aspiration of seeing Israel progress toward redemption will happen only when the people want it. At least my remarks about a country run according to the laws of the Torah started a discourse. People are asking questions."

"All fear of me and fear of the word 'Torah' stem from ignorance. The values of the Torah are just, enlightened, moral, and humane. I see them as the right values. Rabbi Haim Navon wrote a nice post about how the laws of the Torah are being demonized. He argued that the rules of Jewish law are good ones. On road accidents, for example, Jewish law mandates that road laws be followed with exactitude."

Q: So there's no reason to fear you?

"Obviously, anyone who wants a Palestinian state and thinks that would be a good thing for Israel should be worried about someone who sees that as a terrible thing and is working to bring about the opposite. With God's help, I'll manage to do the opposite. Not alone, but with a lot of other people."

"Anyone who wants to turn Israel into a state of all its citizens should be worried about Bezalel Smotrich. Anyone who has no problem with the awful demographic balance in the Galilee, where 70% of the people are gentiles, should be afraid of Bezalel Smotrich, because with other people's help, I'll turn that around. I'm going to bring Jews to the Galilee. If I'm still transportation minister a few years from now, I'll build a network of roads and complete the revolution to allow hundreds of thousands of Jews to move there. That's a huge goal."

"Anyone who thinks that settlement in Judea and Samaria is a danger to peace should be afraid of Bezalel Smotrich. If I stay on as transportation minister, I'll ensure that there is a major multi-year plan that envisions another half million people in Judea and Samaria, including a train line, roads, and interchanges."

Q: Did you ever believe that you, a troublemaking 'hilltop youth,' would become a minister and cabinet member?

"I wasn't a 'hilltop youth.' That isn't something that existed in my time. I was a member of the Regevim movement … and I transitioned into politics. Why stand outside and shout, if you can go in and take the wheel? Sometimes you need to shout, and sometimes you need to take the reins and lead."

"I was an MK, I was a party leader, and now I'm a minister and a cabinet member. I hope I'll manage to learn [how to do] the job and do good for the Land of Israel. Did I plan, as a kid, to become a government minister? No. Everything I've done in public life was pretty much by chance."

Q: Do you regret your remarks about Torah law? Could they have cost you the justice portfolio?

"Using the speech about Torah law against me is just [political] spin. In any case, [the prime minister] wasn't running after me to offer me the justice portfolio even before that. He decided for his own reasons that it would stay within the Likud."

Q: Did you imagine what an uproar it would cause?

"No. I was giving a lecture at the Rav Kook Center, to a friendly audience, to mark Jerusalem Day. I spoke in the style of a beit midrash, because I was talking to beit midrash people. It got out. I don't have a shred of regret about it. That was the week of the Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade. If they can wave flags for things that in my view are perverted, and their broken values, then I can also stand up for what I believe in with the same pride and power."

"My vision will bring us a better, healthier, and more positive future, and I'm at peace with it. I have no regrets, even if people got spooked and put my head on a platter. People gave interviews, discussed it, Jewish law became the matter of the house. In my opinion, that's great. If I paid a price for it, I do so with great love."

"The main thing that pained me in these past two weeks was discovering how deep [people's] ignorance about Judaism, the Torah, and Jewish law runs. People think that Jewish law means people being stoned to death."

"Jewish law eradicated the death sentence long ago. The Torah doesn't rest on enforcement, it teaches norms and values. A state that is run based on the Torah would be run in the freest manner with a lot less coercion and much more faith in people."

"People are scared of tradition, values, our culture that is thousands of years old. David Ben-Gurion said, 'We wanted to raise heretics, but we raised ignoramuses.' I propose that we stop being afraid and stop being populist and study more. I don't know of any other people that holds thousands of years of tradition in contempt."

Q: Will you change your party list for the September election?

"There must be one party to the Right of the Likud. Anyone who wants to come back and serve the state of Israel needs to unite on one party list. If we hadn't made the mistakes we did in the last election [when several small right-wing parties failed to pass the minimum threshold], which was a waste of votes, we would have a big, stable right-wing government without Lieberman. It would have implemented all the plans we have about governance, democracy, settlement, society, and the economy."

"There needs to be a single religious-Zionist party. Everyone needs to put the past behind them and join one party. Anyone who stays out of it will be unbelievably irresponsible, and condemned."

Q: Is Zehut leader Moshe Feiglin considered right-wing?

"Good question. In recent days, he's saying he is. How reliable is someone who switches ideologies? I don't know."

"We all need to sit down together, as soon as possible. I don't accept the view of [former education minister] Naftali Bennett, who says 'I won't negotiate now, only in the last week [to submit party lists for the election]. We can't busy ourselves with internal battles. The public is sick of it. I'm willing to give up my spot so that together,, we can get this going. The most important goal is to succeed in the election, with 60-plus seats, without Lieberman."

Q: Are you in favor of Ayelet Shaked heading the list?

"I think that Rabbi Rafi Peretz is excellent. He was party leader, and he should be party leader. But I'm not alone and I'm not forcing my opinion on anyone … We need to put personal considerations and ego aside."

Q: Would you join a government under Blue and White leader Benny Gantz?

"No. Benny Gantz is left-wing, full stop. Left-wing politically, left-wing economically, left-wing on the settlements, left-wing on security, left-wing when it comes to Jewish identity."

"We've already forgotten what it means for the Left to be in power, what it's like to have buses exploding all over the country, what irresponsible economic policy looks like. The deficit we have now isn't a fraction of what the Rabin government created. Let's hope we don't have a reminder of what a left-wing government looks like."

Q: Would you join a government with Lieberman?

"Lieberman isn't right-wing, Lieberman is Lieberman. He has no ideology and no path. He torpedoed a dream government, he behaved irresponsibly because of personal, populist considerations."

"There is a certain sector of the public that is turned on by hatred of Judaism and the haredim. So he chose to fight [by using that]. Lieberman is a dangerous, irresponsible man, who in 30 years … hasn't created any major [plans of action] for the state of Israel or passed any laws … One of the goals of this election is to make that man disappear from the political landscape."

"A dream government was around the corner. We could have made immense changes to democracy and governance, restored the proper balance between the Knesset, the government, and the courts. We could have turned back the wheel on the 'judicial revolution' that former Chief Justice Aharon Barak led here illegally, unjustly, illogically, and without any public debate. The Right has been in power for years, and hasn't really been able to implement policies because of these obstacles."

"We have the most supportive American government we've ever had, and instead of taking advantage of the chance to promote sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, we are wasting our time with another election and [party] negotiations. That's irresponsible. Someone like that [Lieberman] certainly isn't part of the Right."

Q: What is your position on the haredi conscription bill?

"In the negotiations, the haredim came a long way, gave Lieberman 95% of what he wanted. His obstinate insistence that quotas be set down in law rather than by the cabinet was nonsense. They went as far as they could. Politics is an art of compromise, of dialogue, and the compromise reached was just right."

"The number of haredim who enlist in the army and then join the workforce is growing. Anyone who thinks that social processes can be forced in one go is wrong. Doing that is like a bull in a china shop."

"The Tal Law resulted in positive social processes, but a combination of Yair Lapid's populism and the foolishness of the Supreme Court and Lieberman's lack of responsibility just set the whole situation back."

Q: What are your goals as member of the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet?

"I'm entering the cabinet with a great sense of responsibility. I'm here to learn, to listen to good, wise people with experience, and also to present my own worldview."

Q: And now you'll be part of a cabinet that gives money to Hamas.

"You can't have influence in any field, certainly not politics, if you play the game only when your position is accepted. There is a prime minister and a defense minister. I'm going to be part of that body. Thus far, I could present my opinion in the media and on Twitter, and now I have the privilege of having it heard by the prime minister and experts."

"I'll keep on stating my opinion, in the cabinet and outside it. Responsibly, not in a populist way."

Q: What do we do about the Gaza Strip?

"Gaza is a ticking time bomb with a self-destruct mechanism aimed at Israel. The only deep-rooted solution that will restore calm and security to the residents of southern Israel in the long term is to retake Gaza. Take responsibility for it, reestablish the settlements, and open the gates to emigration [out of the Strip.] Until we do that, we are destined to live from one round [of violence] to the next."

"I think we need to make them pay a higher price. For every rocket fired at Israel, we should take out 40 high-rises in central Gaza, so Hamas understands that it is paying an insufferable price and we take away its desire to attack us."

Q: Are you willing to fight a full-scale war? Because that's what you're saying.

"Definitely not. We can pound them from the air without sending a single soldier in. I'll try to state my position in the cabinet bit by bit. Will they accept it on the first day? Probably not. It's obvious to me that a strategic solution demands a change to how the public thinks, and legitimacy for the leadership to enact one."

Q: What is your opinion of Netanyahu's policy of "containment"?

"It's correct given the trap that Israeli policy is currently in, as long as we aren't willing to make the strategic move of returning to Gaza. I don't see any value in a ground incursion that would topple Hamas just to put Abbas in power.

"I'm done talk about bringing down Hamas because I don't know what would happen next. That's cheap populism that is more like Lieberman. Bring them down, and then what? Will we put Abbas in power? Will the IDF and its fallen put Abbas in power? So we handle the current reality.

Q: A reality in which arson balloons are released from Gaza every day.

"In my opinion, we need to exact a price for that, too. Anyone who sends an arson balloon into Israel is a dead man. I would create an automatic system that identifies incendiary objects and fires at the point of release. That means that if someone fires from inside a populated area, he is the one who pulls the trigger of the retaliatory fire."

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In a letter to Habayit Hayehudi leader Rafi Peretz, party officials wrote, "Unfortunately, over the past few months we have not been treated fairly and your conduct and that of Habayit Hayehudi officials was that of those who use Otzma Yehudit and throw it away."

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The letter stated that Otzma Yehudit running on a joint ticket with Habayit Hayehudi and National Union led to an electoral victory, which if it hadn't been for Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman forcing a new election, could have led to the establishment of a right-wing government.

After mentioning that both Peretz and National Union leader Bezalel Smotrich had been appointed to ministerial posts, the letter says, "Despite all this, and despite the fact that more than 70,000 Otzma Yehudit voters voted for the United Right, over the course of the past few months the conduct by Habayit Hayehudi officials was disgraceful."

"When it was decided that an election would be held, your started holding briefings against Otzma Yehudit. … Every day, we've heard different slanders, and as if that wasn't enough, you even refused to sit down with us and discuss how you could keep your promise, even after you were already appointed to a ministerial position."

The letter admonished Peretz that "this isn't how you treat partners … as the education minister, you know that the correct definition of that behavior is 'ungrateful.'"

The letter concluded with an official declaration that Otzma Yehudit was breaking off its partnership with Habayit Hayehudi: "We were pushed down to unrealistic places [on the list] and received much less than we deserve, and we did so out of responsibility to the public, but apparently our generosity was misinterpreted by you as being able to keep trampling Otzma Yehudit."

According to the signatories of the letter, Otzma Yehudit is working to create partnerships with other parties for the Sept. 17 election that will "strengthen the Right."

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Going against all the pundits' forecasts and prophecies, he joined Netanyahu's coalition in 2015, then left both the government and his role as defense minister in 2018, which was supposedly not in his political interest. So anyone who thought he would automatically join Netanyahu's fifth government in 2019 wasn't reading the map correctly.

So what does Lieberman want? Ultimately, the current dispute between him and Netanyahu is characteristic of their three-decades-long love-hate relationship. Netanyahu is the star, the one who draws in seats, a prime minister who is supposed to lead, and he and Lieberman share a similar worldview regarding various issues currently on the agenda.

They both used to believe in a presidential system to bring down Hamas, or at least evacuate Khan al-Ahmar. The problem is that when it comes down to it, Netanyahu always allows his policy to be flexible in accordance with the demands of the hour, whereas Lieberman sees himself as someone who doesn't answer to anyone.

So even though the cabinet decided to evacuate Khan al-Ahmar and the prime minister committed to doing so, he sent Lieberman written instructions not to. Or Lieberman, as defense minister, wanted to take major military action in the Gaza Strip, but Prime Minister Netanyahu didn't let him. Or, back in 1996, Lieberman wanted to close the Israel Broadcasting Authority but Netanyahu, who loathed it, nevertheless prevented him from doing so. The same in a thousand other instances over the years.

This has been the dynamic between the two of them since they started working together in 1988. Every so often, Lieberman storms off but eventually joins forces with Netanyahu again after some time has passed. For Lieberman, he can't get along with Bibi, but he can't get along without him. Lieberman has no choice other than to link himself politically to Netanyahu, who wins a lot more votes. But from the time he was director general of the Prime Minister's Office to his terms as foreign minister and defense minister, he quickly loses interest, blows a fuse, and throws a fit, forcing Netanyahu to do what he believes should be done anyway. Then, lacking any other political option, he returns to Netanyahu's embrace and it starts all over again.

In the current circumstances, after his credibility as defense minister crumbled when he didn't take out Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh within 48 hours and because Israel's deterrence against Hamas has slipped since last spring, Lieberman had to shore up his image as a person who keeps to his word. He might be dragging the entire country into a new election, but Netanyahu won't bind his hands as defense minister – at least, that's how Lieberman sees things.

Does he want to topple Netanyahu? There is no proof of that. Lieberman knows that calling an early election is a risk to himself as well as to the prime minister. Voters might up their support of him for keeping his promise on the haredi draft bill. But it is equally likely that voters will punish him for bringing down a right-wing government. So it's hard to find evidence to support the conspiracy theories that Netanyahu was spreading this week. Incidentally, if Lieberman had wanted to bring down Netanyahu, he wouldn't have recommended that President Reuven Rivlin charge him with forming the government and would even have tried to ensure that some other MK – from the Likud or another party – was given that responsibility. But neither of those things happened.

Lieberman's speech at a press conference on Thursday shows that his goal is clear – if the public rewards him at the voting booth and he secures a number of seats in the double digits, he will demand a rotating premiership in coalition negotiations. That is why he won't commit to recommending Netanyahu, but clearly said he would not recommend Blue and White co-leader Benny Gantz either.

Yes, the result of the April 9 election is strange and one that has never happened in the history of Israel. But government crises happen in democracies. Take a look at the news from Great Britain, which has been bogged down in the Brexit crisis for two years already. Or Belgium, Sweden, and Spain, whose governments have been limping along for years, going from one crisis to another – minority governments, transitional governments, or any other kind of unstable governments that are much worse than returning to the polls, even if it means voting twice in a single year.

Given the insanity that characterized the election cycle this past winter, there is some hope that the September election will look different. The April election wasn't about issues – it was replete with spin, lies, and posturing. From far-right activist Moshe Feiglin to the New Right to Blue and White – the public was constantly exposed to manipulations. The public discourse, as we can all recall, was violent and lacked any connection to matters of policy or the nation's future path.

Because the politicians, activists, reporters, and media advisers are tuckered out, there is a chance that the new election will see a greater focus on issues and political fictions, from both the Right and the Left, and attacks will dissipate. Lost seats won't be wasted again. Things will be more mature and the public will know what they are voting for. So while two elections in a year is not something to be desired, it's not something to be horrified over. In the end, this is democracy.

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Bennett and Feiglin reportedly sat down this week for a meeting that was characterized as "long and good," with the goal to establish a "technical bloc" that would be viable in the September election. The two parties would run on a joint list, and if the list passes the minimum threshold, will revert to their current status once the election is over.

Officials in the New Right are saying that last month, Bennett held a series of meetings with prominent figures in both in the political world and outside it. He used the meetings to help draw conclusions about his poor performance in April. Sources close to Bennett said that he will stick to the following principles: a united Right that is capable of governing; Israeli Jewishness that brings people closer together; a positive approach with minimal attacks and polarization; focus on the real issues; voter outreach; a modest, low-cost campaign; and deals with other parties to ensure a place in the next Knesset.

One of the people Bennett reportedly met with was New Right co-founder Ayelet Shaked, but it still appears that Shaked is looking to join the Likud rather than stay with Bennett.

"Bennett has realized a lot of things. Mainly, the need for a significant change to his public message – to take things in a cleaner, more unifying direction," his associates said.

Meanwhile, Feiglin's Zehut party is also reviewing the causes of its failure on April 9. One of the main lessons for party members was Feiglin's declaration that Zehut would not automatically join a coalition under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Feiglin said at the time, "We aren't in anyone's pocket. Not Netanyahu's, or [Blue and White leader Benny] Gantz's. We will join whoever gives us the most."

In the new campaign, Zehut will announce that it will join a right-wing government only. On Thursday, Feiglin said, "To a large extent, our avoiding saying 'We are right-wing' was our downfall. We are going to pave the way to allow our large sector of potential voters to cast their ballots for us, without concern that we'll establish a left-wing government."

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Right-wing nationalists who want to slash immigration into Europe and return power to national governments are expected to make gains, though mainstream parties are tipped to hold onto power in the 751-seat legislature that sits in both Brussels and Strasbourg.

The election began on Thursday, but most of the EU's 28 member states, including the biggest of all, Germany and France, are voting on Sunday, and the results are expected overnight. Some 426 million people are eligible to vote.

"I don't want to see a right-populist Europe [that] wants to destroy the idea of togetherness," said Manfred Weber, the lead candidate of the Christian Democrat center-right EPP group, currently the biggest in the legislature.

Leading the challenge to the established order is Italy's hardline interior minister, Matteo Salvini, head of the League party, who is assembling a group of like-minded parties from across Europe.

"We need to do everything that is right to free this country, this continent, from the illegal occupation organized by Brussels," Salvini told a rally in Milan last weekend that was attended by the leaders of 11 nationalist parties.

As he voted in Budapest on Sunday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he hopes the election will bring a shift toward political parties that want to stop migration.

The migration issue "will reorganize the political spectrum in the European Union," said Orban, who recently met with Salvini but has not yet committed to joining the Italian's group.

In the face of a more united hardline right wing in the parliament, traditional parties like the EPP and the center-left socialist S&D group want the mainstream to build a strong coalition to stave off the fringe parties.

Spanish caretaker Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called on "all the political forces to open a horizon of political stability."

Projections released by the European Parliament last month show the EPP bloc losing 37 of its 217 seats and the S&D group dropping from 186 seats to 149. On the far right flank, the Europe of Nations and Freedom group is predicted to increase its bloc from 37 to 62 seats.

Proponents of stronger EU integration, led by French President Emmanuel Macron , argue that issues like climate change and reining in immigration are simply too big for any one country to tackle alone.

Macron, whose country has been rocked in recent months by the populist yellow vest movement, has called the elections "the most important since 1979 because the [European] Union is facing an existential risk" from nationalists seeking to divide the bloc.

In Austria, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said Sunday that he hopes the elections will strengthen the center rather than parties on the far right and left.

Austria is one of the countries where the vote also has importance to national politics, serving as a first test of support ahead of a national election in September following the collapse of Kurz's governing coalition a week ago.

In Belgium, a general election is taking place alongside the European vote, while Lithuanians will vote in the second round of their presidential election.

Britain is taking part in the vote even though it is planning to leave the bloc, after the government missed its March 29 deadline to approve divorce terms. Its EU lawmakers would lose their jobs as soon as Brexit happens.

Sunday promises to be a long day and night for election watchers – the last polls close at 11 p.m. in Italy but the European Parliament plans to begin issuing estimates and projections hours earlier with the first official projection of the makeup of the new parliament at 11:15 p.m.

As the dust settles on four days of elections, European leaders will begin the task of selecting candidates for the top jobs in the EU's headquarters in Brussels. The leaders meet for a summit over dinner Tuesday night.

Current European lawmakers' terms end July 1 and the new parliament will take their seats in Strasbourg the following day.

The post European voters elect new parliament as nationalism mounts appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

When they launched their party, everything looked different. Three months ago, the dynamic duo of Israeli politics announced that they were leaving Habayit Hayehudit to establish a new party, and polls soon confirmed that the step had been worthwhile.

But potential voters soon grew bored with their new toy. Other players occupied the surprise slot in the campaign – namely far-right activist Moshe Feiglin, who pushed to legalize cannabis, drawing voters away from the New Right.

Bennett and Shaked put together an all-stars party list. But then the party they had abandoned to its fate got a second wind. The new leader of Habayit Hayehudi, Rabbi Rafi Peretz, and head of National Union joined forces and started to fight back, calling their joint Knesset list the Union of Right-Wing Parties.

Bennett and Shaked made mistakes with their campaign. Bennett took a harsher tone against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on security and defense issues, and it looked as if he was trying too hard. And Shaked put out a parody of an ad for a fragrance called "Fascism," but no one thought it was funny.

Despite these missteps, the bottom didn't fall out of the New Right's voter base. The hard-core voters to the right of the Likud, both religious and secular, which believes that a conservative, right-wing worldview shouldn't remain merely philosophy but should be implemented at a ministerial level, stayed with them.

Polls show that the party, which at one point was hovering barely over the minimum electoral threshold of 3.25% (four Knesset seats) has regained some of its strength. Netanyahu's failed policy on Hamas – there is no other way of characterizing it – apparently restored some the votes the New Right had lost.

Until the polling places open on April 9, the New Right will have to keep taking aim at everyone else: Feiglin, the Union of Right-Wing Parties, Netanyahu, and even Blue and White leader Benny Gantz to cross the finish line successfully.

The real value of the 2019 election's start-up will be determined only after all the votes are in and counted.

The post From a brilliant beginning to a battle for survival appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.