Election Committee Approves Party Designations Amid Political Disputes

Israel's Central Elections Committee has approved the letter designations for parties running in the upcoming elections, a process that saw some disputes between political figures. Notably, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's new list, "Achva," received the letters "רק" (Rak), while Benny Gantz's "National Unity" party will use "כן" (Ken). The Likud party, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, retains its traditional "מחל" (Mahal), and Itamar Ben-Gvir's "Otzma Yehudit" secured the letter "ב" (Bet), a designation Bennett had also sought.

Gadi Eisenkot's list will run under the letters "דרך" (Derech), and Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionism, along with Moshe Feiglin's Zehut, will use "ט" (Tet). Other approved designations include "אמת" (Emet) for Yair Golan's Democrats, "ל" (Lamed) for Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu, and "ג" (Gimel) for United Torah Judaism.

The committee also addressed contested designations. The United Arab List (Ra'am) received "עם" (Am) under a conditional approval pending a Supreme Court hearing, as the committee had initially disqualified the list. Similarly, the Joint List was conditionally approved with "ודם" (Vadam) pending a Supreme Court review after their candidacy was disqualified.

One party, "Gan Eden," had its initial request for "י-ה" (Yeh) denied due to concerns about offending public sensibilities, and was instead assigned "ה" (Heh). The full list of approved letters and associated parties has been published.