Religious Zionism Party Slams Noam Party for 'Stealing a Mandate'
Translated & summarized from Arutz Sheva by baba
A senior Religious Zionism party official criticized the Noam party for running separately in elections, claiming it cost Religious Zionism a Knesset seat. The official stated that 6,312 votes for Noam could have secured Religious Zionism a seventh mandate, which instead went to Likud via surplus votes. The criticism highlights the impact of smaller parties on the overall strength of the national camp within the Knesset, even when a majority government is not formed.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Religious Zionism party official blames Noam party's separate run for losing a Knesset seat.
- Noam party received 9,876 votes, while Religious Zionism needed 6,312 more for an additional mandate.
- The lost mandate ultimately went to the Likud party through a surplus vote agreement.
- Official argues losing a mandate weakens the national camp's influence in the Knesset.
- Wasted votes on parties below the threshold could have significantly boosted the national camp's seat count.
A senior official from the Religious Zionism party has sharply criticized the Noam party, asserting that its decision to run separately in the recent elections directly weakened the Religious Zionism party and the broader national camp. The official stated that the Religious Zionism party was just 6,312 votes short of securing a seventh Knesset seat, which ultimately went to the Likud party through a surplus vote agreement. "The distribution is done according to the Bader-Ofer method, which examines the relative number of votes for the distribution of the last mandates," the official explained to Channel 7. "If the votes that went to Noam had come to Religious Zionism, the additional mandate would have come to us and not to Likud. The meaning is simple: Noam brought Erez Tadmor into the Knesset instead of Zvi Sukkot. That is its decisive contribution to strengthening the Jewish identity of the State of Israel," the official said sarcastically.
The source rejected the claim by Noam party members that their independent run did not harm the national camp, arguing that even without a 61-seat majority to form a right-wing government, the internal composition of the Knesset and the strength of Zionist, national, and religious parties are crucial. "Losing a mandate for Religious Zionism to another party is a real blow to these forces, even if it alone does not change the ability to form a government." The official further elaborated that the damage extends beyond a single mandate, suggesting that the combined votes wasted on parties that did not pass the electoral threshold, including Noam and others, could have boosted the national camp's strength to around 55 or even 56 seats. This, the official stressed, represents a dramatic political difference, impacting whether a government could be formed with Ra'am alone, with the Joint List abstaining, or only with its explicit support. "The claim that if there are no 61 mandates, it doesn't matter where the votes go, is simply not true. Every vote affects the balance of power in the Knesset, the identity of the Knesset members, and the possibility of forming a government. In Noam's case, one can tangibly see the price Religious Zionism paid," the official concluded.
