Religious Zionism-Otzma Yehudit decided to avoid the ninety minute battles and submitted the lists early. But this time it didn’t go completely smoothly either; Just a short time before the submission of the list on Tuesday, the chairman of Noam MK Avi Maoz received the offer to be placed 11th on the list, after his request to receive the fifth or sixth place was not accepted. The agreement was reached after pressure from Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu, who met for a long hour with Rabbi Zvi Tau, the spiritual leader of the Noam party.
Religious Zionist Chairman Bezalel Smotrich decided to take advantage of the armories at his disposal and added to the list the Secretary General of Bnei Akiva Ohad Tal, who was placed in 12th place. In additional armor, Moshe Solomon was placed 14th on the list, pushing back Zvi Sukkot who was ahead of him in the religious Zionist primary elections. There were those in the party who were angry about the armors, which disrupt the will of the voters in the primaries.
Shortly before the submission of the list, Sukkot arrived at Smotrich’s office, protesting the change and its timing – at the last minute. Around Smotrich, they explained that in light of the union with Noam, there was a need to balance the list through the addition of Tal, who comes from more central wings of the religious-nationalist public and deals with the Diaspora issue. It was also explained there that Solomon’s armor was made as part of an overall agreement with Netanyahu. Smotrich recommended to Netanyahu to reserve in Likud the former Deputy Chairman of the National Security Council Moshe Saada, thereby preventing his joining Shaked. Sharyon Saada in Likud pushed Tsega Malko, another armored, to the 37th place, and therefore Smotrich should promote Moshe Solomon, who is also a member of the Ethiopian community, on his list.
The other day, Netanyahu announced his favorites in the party, including Amichai Shikli, Idit Silman and Moshe Saada, in 14th, 16th and 28th places respectively. “Everyone is talented, everyone is worthy, everyone has achievements, each in their own field,” Netanyahu testified about them. “Together with our entire team, we will bring four years of stability to Israel with a strong and stable national government.” The Likud resented the fact that General Gal Hirsh was not reserved in the party, but Netanyahu had his own considerations: he preferred to reserve candidates from among the religious public, in his fight for the knitted vote.
Ayelet Shaked, who was currently running on the Jewish Home list, compiled the list together with her new partner Yossi Brodani. Shaked was debating whether to place a new candidate in third place who would push Amitayi Porat and MK Yom-Tov Kalphon out of the top quartile. Finally, attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, chairman of Shurat Hadin, an organization that deals with the economic fight against terrorist organizations, was placed fourth on the list , and Porat remained in third place.
Yesterday morning, there were those who were still toying with the possibility of the two left-wing parties, Meretz and Labor, running together, but the chairman of the Labor Party, Merav Michaeli, hastened to submit his party’s list, thus closing the door on this possibility and curbing the last pressures from the bloc’s leader, Yair Lapid. “I said from the moment The first one I believe in running separately, it’s better for the group,” explained Michaeli.
Minister Amr Bar-Lev, who ran for the leadership of the Labor Party against Michaeli and also felt hurt by the results of the internal elections – in which he was relegated to ninth place, which is not realistic according to the polls – was debating whether to withdraw from the race. Michaeli refused his request to arm him and jump him to a higher place. However, he was promised a job and decided to stay.
Also in Meretz yesterday they submitted a list according to the results of the primaries, without additional armors. There they would be happy to run together with the labor, but when this did not work they would be forced to fight again against the threat of the blocking percentage and mobilize their supporters. The party announced yesterday that “Meretz is strong and continues to grow stronger, we will be a large, strong and influential left wing in the Lapid government”.
In the state camp, the party of Gantz-Saar-Eizenkot, chose to continue with the letters “Yes”, which were used by the Blue and White party in the elections to the 24th Knesset. Ministers Panina Tamno-Sheta, Yifat Shasha-Biton and Matan Kahane, who represent each of the party’s components, came together to present the list and told the media: “We want to see Benny Gantz at the head of the government. We will reach more than 18 mandates.”
The Shas list for the Knesset is a copy-paste from the outgoing Knesset. At the top of the list was Aryeh Deri, who, as I recall, withdrew from the Knesset as part of a plea deal, but will now return to serve. Further down the list, after the incumbent MKs, were Deri’s assistants who were promoted to the Knesset, as well as for the first time an Ashkenazi representative In the Spanish party, Yossi Galant, in an attempt to attract ultra-Orthodox voters from Torah Judaism. On the other hand, in Torah Judaism, David Ohana was placed in sixth place, representing “the Sephardic Torah children”. Both in unrealistic places.
Last night, near the close of the issue, the only question mark was related to the joint confrontation of Hadash and Tel Aviv with Balad. The main debate between the parties revolved around the question of whether the joint faction would undertake in the electoral process not to recommend to the president – after the elections – Yair Lapid as a candidate for the presidency the government.
Earlier yesterday it seemed that the parties had reached an agreement among themselves, and made it clear that they did not intend to enter a coalition. The text of the agreement stated that the Arab parliamentary bloc would not be part of the camps competing for power, and would remain in the opposition. From there they will try to influence and achieve achievements, but without compromises in the political positions. It was also determined that, contrary to the unusual recommendation of Hadash and Tal for Yair Lapid to the President of the State after the previous elections, this time a factional consultation on the matter would be required.
Besides the dispute on the question of support for Lapid, the parts of the joint list also disagreed on the question of rotation. In sixth place on the list is placed Matans Shahada; Balad demanded last night that this place remain his, and the obligation to retire in the middle of the term will apply only from seventh place. The other companies did not agree to the demand. The Arab parties fear a low voter turnout in the sector, a result of a lack of trust in the political system, which is also reflected in public opinion polls.
With the closing of the lists, it becomes clear that at least thirty members of the Knesset, including veteran and senior MKs and serving ministers, are not expected to continue to the next Knesset – either because of their choice to retire from the political arena or because they were elected in low positions. Here are some of the names: Tzachi Hanegbi, Yuval Steinitz, Orli Levy- Abacsis, Kati Shtrit, Patin Mola, Naftali Bennett, Shirley Pinto, Abtisam Maraena, Yaakov Litzman, Osama Saadi, Binyamin Begin, Meir Yitzhak Halevi, Jida Rinavi-Zoevi, Mazen Ganaim, Nachman Shai, Nitzan Horowitz, Tamar Zandberg, Amr Bar-Lev, Isavi Frij and Nir Orbach.
With the submission of the lists, political connections will no longer be possible, and the phase of petitions and appeals to the court against candidates and parties will begin. Religious Zionism has already announced that they will allow the disqualification of the Arab factions. The intra-party rumblings will give way to the election system itself, and to the fight for the voter’s vote and heart.