Report: Ayelet Shaked Is Closing in on a New Alliance With Yisrael Beiteinu

Former justice minister Ayelet Shaked is reportedly preparing a political comeback through a new partnership, with informal talks underway with Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman about a joint run in the next election, according to political reporter Yuval Karni in Yedioth Ahronoth. The move comes after a complete break between Shaked and her longtime political partner, former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who heads the party Yachad. Bennett’s alliance with Yair Lapid and Yesh Atid appears to have ended any chance that Shaked and Bennett would run together again.

At the same time, Shaked is trying to rebuild her traditional base on the national religious right. On Tuesday evening, she held a closed and significant meeting with a group of close political activists, including deputy mayors and local council members from around the country who once represented the Jewish Home party. The group is described as an ideological constituency that has recently been left without a clear political home.

According to the report, these voters are split between Bennett’s Yachad, which has moved leftward through its partnership with Lapid, and Religious Zionism, which is positioned on the more ultra-Orthodox national religious flank. Shaked told those present that the bloc’s strength in the field could be worth about three Knesset seats, which would give her leverage in any negotiations with Lieberman over top positions on the Yisrael Beiteinu list.