Posted on 12/12/19
| News Source: MATZAV
The leader of one of Israel’s smaller right-wing parties has been making it clear in sub rosa talks that after the next election, there will be no more right-wing “bloc.”
According to the party leader, “It [the bloc] was the right move at the time. It was something that was important to do in order to prevent the rise of a left-wing government. But next time, it won’t happen.”
If Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again fails to put together a government, said the party leader, the right-wing parties will have to consider “other options.”
“We will not run as a bloc, hampering other political moves. If [Prime Minister] Netanyahu cannot put together a government, we won’t go back to what happened these past few months. We will have to look at other options and other mergers,” the party leader said.
On the left, there is also talk about possible mergers and moves ahead of an election. On Tuesday evening, Democratic Union MK Stav Shaffir told Radio Kol Barama that she saw potential success in the Democratic Union and Labor running as a joint list, despite claims of “ideological differences” between the parties.
“I’d like to hear where the chasm between the Democratic Union and the Labor Party lies,” Shaffir said.
“There are no gap. Anyone who claims otherwise wants us to go down together. Most Labor voters want to run together with the Democratic Union. In the end, it’s [Labor] chairman Amir Peretz who has to decide. When [Gesher leader] Orly Levy-Abekasis says that there is an ‘immense gap,’ she is essentially saying that our positions are not legitimate. We can’t bring each other down,” she said.
A tentative date for Israel’s third election in the span of a year has been set for March 2, 2020.
This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.