From the Liveblog of
Monday, June 15, 2026
Ben Gvir says his party won’t run jointly in the election with Smotrich’s, which is in danger of not entering Knesset
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says that his ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit party will not run on a joint slate with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s far-right Religious Zionism in the upcoming election, after the two teamed up in the last election.
According to a survey published last week by Zman Yisrael, The Times of Israel’s sister site, if elections were held today, Otzma Yehudit would receive eight seats while Religious Zionism would fail to enter the Knesset. Religious Zionism has been polling around or below the electoral threshold for months, sparking speculation that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will broker another joint run.
Asked about this possibility by a reporter ahead of his party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, Ben Gvir replies that “Smotrich must run in one party and we must run in another party. Otherwise, there is no option for a right-wing government.”
“The only option for a right-wing government is for Smotrich to run within the religious Zionism framework, try to make a sectoral party, and I believe he will pass the electoral threshold. And on the other hand, Otzma Yehudit must appeal to the entire State of Israel, to all the people. I hope we will bring such a large result that there will be no doubt. The larger Otzma Yehudit is, the greater the chance that there will be a right-wing government here,” Ben Gvir says.
Ben Gvir appeared to hint at this approach late last month, when he told reporters during a previous press conference that it was important that Smotrich run on his own.
He said at the time that he thought “we need to maximize the right-wing votes so that there will be a right-wing government here once again, and Otzma Yehudit has a very, very important role. Otzma Yehudit is not a sectarian party” and has supporters “from all sectors: secular, traditional, Haredi.”
“I think Bezalel needs to run in the format of a religious Zionist party. God willing, I believe and know that he can pass the electoral threshold, and Otzma Yehudit needs to bring a lot of mandates, and we can bring a lot of mandates to the right-wing bloc so that there will be a right-wing government here,” he said at the time.
The Times of Israel Community.