Israeli Parties Rush to Submit Knesset Lists Amid Last-Minute Drama
Translated & summarized from Vesty by baba
Six major Israeli parties are in a last-minute rush to submit their electoral lists to the Central Elections Committee by Tuesday, September 8th. Several parties, including Likud, United Torah Judaism, and Shas, are experiencing internal drama and significant changes to their candidate slates.
The story in 6 lines · by baba
- Six major Israeli parties are scrambling to finalize electoral lists before the September 8th deadline.
- Likud leader Netanyahu is delaying candidate submissions amid internal challenges.
- United Torah Judaism is replacing veteran leaders on its candidate list.
- Shas is expected to introduce new faces while dropping some current lawmakers.
- The United Arab List removed a candidate over a sexual scandal.
- Religious Zionism and Blue and White are facing electoral challenges and seeking alliances.
The deadline for submitting electoral lists to Israel's Central Elections Committee is Tuesday, September 8th, with six major parties still finalizing their slates. These parties are reportedly completing formalities, negotiating potential alliances, and confirming candidate lineups, with surprises anticipated before the cutoff.
The ruling Likud party, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, is delaying its candidate submissions, holding onto reserved spots and reportedly facing challenges in finding strong "locomotive" candidates. The party's secretariat meeting to approve the final list has been postponed multiple times.
United Torah Judaism is undergoing significant changes, with veteran leader Moshe Gafni being removed from the list and replaced by Yaakov Asher. Uri Maklev will also not be included, and Yisrael Eichler will make way for Eliyahu Stark.
Shas party leader Aryeh Deri has consulted with rabbis to finalize his list, which is expected to include new figures like Yosef Elnatanov and Dror Amos, while several incumbent lawmakers may be dropped.
The United Arab List, a merger of Hadash, Ta'al, and Balad, will not feature Jafar Farah due to a sexual scandal; a replacement is expected to be chosen on Tuesday, likely a woman.
Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionism party, polling below the electoral threshold, hoped to merge with Ofir Winter's "Amcha Israel" party, which submitted its own list. Religious Zionism is now forming a technical bloc with Moshe Feiglin's Zehut party, with Feiglin securing the second spot on the list.
Benny Gantz's Blue and White party is also struggling to cross the electoral threshold according to polls. Negotiations for a merger with Gilad Erdan's "Achdut" party have failed, though a potential alliance with Yoaz Hendel's "Reservists" party is still being discussed. Meanwhile, MK Michael Biton announced his departure from Blue and White, only for Aliza Bloch to announce her joining the party hours later.
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