In blow to Bennett, former Yamina MK joins Likud
PM Netanyahu poaches Shuli Moalem-Refaeli, in possible attempt to stem right-wing challenger’s recent rise in popularity
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Wednesday that former Yamina MK Shuli Moalem-Refaeli had joined his Likud party, in a move seen as an attempt to dampen the growing popularity of Yamina chairman Naftali Bennett, who is gaining on the premier’s Likud in recent polls.
Moalem-Refaeli was one of the original founding members of the Yamina party, along with Bennett and Ayelet Shaked, and represents a key base of the national religious voters who have traditionally aligned with the party.
“I am very happy that Moalem-Refaeli, the former Knesset member and one of the most important activists in religious Zionism, is joining Likud. The Likud is the natural home of religious Zionism,” Netanyahu said in a statement released by the Likud party.
Moalem-Refaeli said Likud was the party best suited to carry out the agenda of the religious-Zionist community.
“The Likud is the natural home of religious Zionism and the ideological right. When the people of Israel are worried about the economic and health crises, there is still so much work to do to fix the world and bring Israel into its rightful place, and the place to do that is in the Likud,” she said, according to the statement.
Poaching Moalem-Refaeli, a mother of seven from the Neve Daniel settlement south of Jerusalem, carries special significance after Netanyahu faced scathing criticism last month from leaders of the settlement movement for putting annexation of portions of the West Bank on hold in exchange for full formal relations with the United Arab Emirates.
At the same time, Netanyahu’s main rival on the right, Naftali Bennett, has been growing in popularity and is seen as a possible challenger to the prime minister.
In bringing Moalem-Refaeli on board, Netanyahu may be seeking to entice religious Zionist voters and widen his voter base.
After entering the Knesset with Jewish Home in 2013, Moalem-Refaeli introduced legislation aimed at legalizing wildcat outposts beyond the Green Line and, separately, to walk back Israel’s 2005 pullout from northern West Bank settlements, as well as a passed measure outlawing prostitution.
Moalem-Refaeli held a top position in the IDF’s Widows and Orphans Organization before entering the Knesset. She joined the organization shortly after losing her husband, Lt.-Col. Moshe Moalem, in a 1997 helicopter disaster, in which 73 IDF soldiers were killed when two army helicopters collided in the air on their way to Lebanon.
The Times of Israel Community.