Opposition Parties Forge Surplus Vote Pacts Ahead of Elections

The "Yashar!" party, led by Gadi Eisenkot, announced on Sunday it has signed a surplus vote agreement with the "Democrats" party. Simultaneously, the "Yisrael Beiteinu" faction, headed by Avigdor Lieberman, and the "Be'ad" list, led by Naftali Bennett, have also agreed to a mutual surplus vote deal.

"Yashar! with Eisenkot" stated that party chairman Gadi Eisenkot has been working to organize the "change and hope camp" in recent weeks. The party expressed satisfaction that the alignment of four parties has enabled internal and mutual surplus vote agreements, learning from past election cycles. They welcomed the agreement between "Be'ad" and "Yisrael Beiteinu," emphasizing their determination to secure victory and form a "Zionist and state-run government" to replace the current administration, which they referred to as the "October 7th government of failure."

In contrast, the right-wing bloc has largely finalized its agreements. The Likud party has signed a surplus vote deal with Bezalel Smotrich's "Religious Zionism." Within the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) sector, "United Torah Judaism" and "Shas" have also reached a mutual surplus vote agreement.

These developments leave only two parties in the right-wing bloc without a surplus vote agreement: Itamar Ben-Gvir's "Otzma Yehudit" and "Am Yisrael" party, led by retired Brigadier General Ofer Winter. This positions them as each other's only remaining option for surplus vote distribution.