Smotrich, Feiglin announce joint election run, urge other right-wing parties to join
Religious Zionism leader warns achievements of current government at stake in election; responding dismissively to union, newcomer Ofer Winter says ‘people of Israel want something new’
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Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who chairs the far-right Religious Zionism party, on Monday announced a joint run as a technical bloc for the upcoming elections with the Zehut party, led by Moshe Feiglin.
The move came amid pressure from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to unite smaller right-wing parties to prevent votes from being lost should one or more of them fail to cross the electoral threshold. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has refused to run his Otzma Yehudit party together with Smotrich again, as has newcomer Ofer Winter and his new People of Israel party.
“The time for responsibility has come,” Smotrich said in a post announcing the move and urging other parties to join them.
“I call from here to all parties in the National Bloc: Take responsibility and join us. I will ensure that no voice on the right is lost,” he said.
Smotrich warned that the achievements of the outgoing government are at stake if it loses the election.
“The future of the national camp is at stake – the future of the settlements, the legal system, security, and our ability to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian terrorist state,” he said.
In a short post on X, Feiglin wrote: “With God’s help, we will act and succeed.”
Feiglin represented Netanyahu’s Likud in the Knesset between 2013 and 2015, but was pushed out for his maverick attitude and extreme positions, eventually forming the right-wing libertarian Zehut party.
Zehut failed to cross the 3.25 percent electoral threshold the last time it ran, in 2019, and is now polling at less than one percent. Smotrich is also polling on the cusp of the threshold, with some polls giving him four seats and others saying he will not pass the threshold.
According to its manifesto, Zehut advocates for small-government libertarianism, annexing the West Bank and Gaza, and the “traditional” family unit, rejecting “progressive values.”
In his time as finance minister and a minister in the Defense Ministry, Smotrich has worked to expand West Bank settlements and block the prospect of a future Palestinian state, while using financial sanctions to undermine the Palestinian Authority, which the government accuses of backing terrorism.
In response to the announcement, Winter said that “the people of Israel want something new.”
The Times of Israel Community.