Likud, Smotrich pressure smaller parties to quit election race; signs placed outside candidate’s home

By Ariela Karmel

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and its allies are mounting an aggressive campaign to pressure smaller right-wing parties to withdraw from the October 27 election, fearing they could siphon off support from established parties and cost the Netanyahu-led bloc crucial seats if they fail to cross the electoral threshold.

After succeeding in getting Davidi Ben Zion, No. 8 on Ofer Winter’s People of Israel slate, to withdraw yesterday, the campaign is now targeting Laly Derai, the party’s No. 6 candidate and a bereaved mother whose son, IDF Staff Sgt. Saadia Derai, was killed fighting in Gaza.

Signs and billboards calling on Derai to withdraw have been erected near her home in the West Bank settlement of Eli in videos circulated online. People of Israel has been hovering around the 3.25 percent electoral threshold in recent polls.

Likud and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party are also pressuring the newly formed Haredi Public party to withdraw, a source with knowledge of the matter tells The Times of Israel.

Although polling below the threshold, the party threatens to siphon votes from the bloc’s ultra-Orthodox allies, Shas and United Torah Judaism. Unlike the established Haredi parties, the Haredi Public advocates military service, workforce integration, and secular education, and includes women on its electoral slate.

“There is no point in pressuring the Haredi Public to drop out of the elections,” the party says in a statement, insisting it has a responsibility to “the tens of thousands of Haredim who want new and responsible leadership that will address the fundamental problems facing our society.”

The pressure campaign comes as polls consistently place the Netanyahu bloc well short of the 61 seats needed to form a government, while Smotrich’s own party has struggled to remain above the electoral threshold.