Gvir Registers New Party to Secure Additional State Funding

Otzma Yehudit party leader and Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has registered an additional party under his Knesset list, a move designed to secure further state funding for his political faction. The new party, named "Our Land of Israel," is registered under Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf and MK Yitzhak Kroizer. This maneuver mirrors a tactic Ben-Gvir employed in previous elections.

The strategy leverages Israel's party financing system, where each party is entitled to one funding unit per Knesset member, plus an additional unit for the party itself. For instance, a party with five Knesset members receives six funding units. By registering a separate party within the Otzma Yehudit framework, Ben-Gvir can obtain an extra funding unit, reportedly worth approximately 1.83 million shekels annually.

In a separate but related political maneuver, the "Bayad" party, alongside the joint list of Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, has submitted a distribution agreement. This agreement allows both parties to retain the option of separating after the elections. The party emphasizes that there is currently no intention to split, characterizing the move as a bureaucratic step previously taken by other joint lists.