Uri Ariel, Tekumah MKs to remain in Jewish Home party
Ex-Shas lawmaker Eli Yishai will not enjoy union with hawkish faction, despite growing rumors
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Housing Minister Uri Ariel’s far-right Tekumah faction will remain in the Jewish Home party despite rampant speculation that its partnership with the mainstream national religious party would be dissolved, the Tekumah central committee decided in a vote early Sunday morning.
The Tekumah faction joined forces with the Jewish Home in advance of the 2013 elections and holds four of Jewish Home’s 12 seats in the outgoing Knesset.
A source close to former Shas MK Eli Yishai had said last week that the Tekumah MKs were close to signing a deal to join his new Ha’am Itanu party. But instead, the second, ninth, fourteenth, and nineteenth spots on Naftali Bennett’s Jewish Home list in the upcoming elections will be reserved for Tekumah MKs.
Before the vote, Ariel told the Tekumah central committee that he would accept whatever decision it made.
“I believe that we will all pitch in to achieve the best results for the entire right wing, and for the Jewish Home,” he said after it was decided to stay with Bennett’s party.
Tekumah released a statement after the vote saying, “We decided to continue to maintain an independent party framework within a joint list.”
MK Yoni Chetboun from Tekumah was the only Jewish Home member to officially announce he would join Yishai’s party.
Last week, Rabbi Dov Lior, an influential figure within the hardline religious-Zionist community, urged members of Tekumah to split from the Jewish Home and join a more ultra-Orthodox party.
Earlier that week, the Tekumah MKs within Jewish Home called an emergency session and threatened to run as a separate party in the March 2015 elections. That session was followed by a heated meeting of Jewish Home where Tekumah members showed up late and accused party chairman Bennett of betraying the core values of the party in order to appeal to non-Orthodox voters.
Yishai registered with election authorities to run at the head of a new party last week, solidifying his split from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party he once led. Yishai chaired Shas for 14 years, but found himself sidelined by the 2011 return of Aryeh Deri, who had led the party before being sent to jail for graft.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
