Yael Sara Rep and Bentzi Rubin, knitted news08.09.22 10:21 12 in Elol Tishfav
Shaked and Handel – the end? (Photo: Avshalom Sashoni, Flash 90)
‘The Zionist Spirit’, the joint political venture of Minister Ayelet Shaked and Minister Yoaz Handel that falters from its first day, is about to explode. At the same time as unflattering polls and disagreements in the party regarding the question of running jointly with the Jewish Home and Yossi Brodani, which may cause a rearrangement of the list, “Srogi” learned that Shaked has been pushing in recent days to part ways with Handel and end the partnership with him. It was reported from Mashhad: “Scrambling nonsense”.
In recent days, progress has been reported in the negotiations between the Zionist spirit and the Jewish House of Yossi Brodney, when Brodney’s placement on the list may cause Zvika Hauser, Handel’s partner in Derech Eretz, to be moved – at least one place back.
There are disagreements in the party regarding the question of the repositioning of the list, but the Srogim learned that behind the scenes, Shaked, who did not see any fruits from the connection with Handel – is working, among other things, with the aim of separating from him.
As I recall, in the uproar surrounding Yonatan Pollard, who initially expressed support for Shaked and then retracted it, Pollard clarified that the withdrawal of support from the party is partly because Shaked “refuses to remove Yoaz Handel from its list”. Now, according to insiders who have spoken with Serogs in recent days, Shaked has changed direction, and is interested in getting rid of the partnership with Handel.
Political sources estimate that apart from the fact that the connection with Handel has been proven to be ineffective according to the polls since the party’s launch, Handel also constitutes a barrier to the process of complementing Netanyahu’s 61 coalition. Also, Handel appeals less to the religious-nationalist public whose mandates Shaked needs in order to pass the blocking percentage.
The chairman of the Knesset Committee, MK Nir Orbach and Shaked’s former partner, explains to Serogim: “I don’t know what exactly is happening between Ayelet and Yoaz, I estimate that there is tension there and the more Ayelet advances against the Jewish Home, the tension will increase and in the end she will probably have to decide between them.”
“This is not just a personal decision but a decision about the way the Zionist spirit should go. Ayelet, in my opinion, should turn to religious Zionism, they are her public, and with a few right moves, they can return to the sector. For this she needs the Jewish home which has a special value. Sounds like Yoaz is not there. So I don’t see what choices she has,” Orbach continues.
In fact, there is pressure on Shaked from within the party – to change the campaign so that it appeals more to religious Zionism and less to the soft right. The factors are also pressuring Shaked to move forward in the connection with Brodney – with the goal that this will allow them to pass the percentage of blocking. At the beginning of the week, there were reports of tensions between Shaked and Handel’s teams over the way the campaign and messages were managed.
Amir Ettinger reported this week in Israel today about difficulties between Handel and Shaked regarding the negotiations with Brodney, which as mentioned may push Zvika Hauser back. A political official estimated in a conversation with Sarogi that Shaked will try to leverage the disagreements surrounding the connection with Brodney – in order to bring about Handel’s removal from the list altogether, and not just be content with moving Hauser one place back. Also, according to the estimates of political parties, a connection with Brodney will create friction with Handel and Derech Eretz party – which may cause them to leave independently.
According to the sources who spoke with Sarogi, this is exactly the situation that Shaked is striving for: ending the partnership with Handel, which turned out to be a political mistake, and rebuilding the list in a way that will allow it to pass the blocking percentage and also neutralize the Handel barrier to joining the 61 government led by Netanyahu.
As mentioned, the Shaked office denied the details and said: “Very complete nonsense”.
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