Yesh Atid, National Unity ink surplus vote-sharing deal

Carrie Keller-Lynn is a former political and legal correspondent for The Times of Israel

Yesh Atid and the National Unity party sign an overflow agreement, by which the two parties will conserve votes within their bloc.

Knesset seats are apportioned by proportional shares of votes, which often fail to conform to round numbers for seats. This kind of agreement allows allied parties to pool their extra votes and assign a potential additional seat to the party that was closer to obtaining it.

Yesh Atid faction leader Boaz Toporovsky, who signed the agreement on behalf of his party, says “it’s the right thing” for the party and the bloc.

While both are members of the outgoing government and part of the same anti-Netanyahu bloc, Yesh Atid and National Unity are each separately competing to be Israel’s ruling party.

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