The National Union right-wing opposition party on Monday is expected to announce the four parties comprising the faction are uniting into one solid right-wing bloc. After months of negotiations the decision has been made to unite in the hope of emerging a stronger entity in the 19th Knesset.

The two parties, NRP and NU are in actuality the result of an earlier merger of four parties – NRP, Moledet, Tekumah, and Achi.

The National Religious Party will be compelled to make the major concessions, being that it represents the component with the most to gain by the merger as its support base is dwindling as has been reflected in recent Knesset elections.

The new party lineup will be determined by the governing council, not by primaries. The party leader however will be voted upon in a primary election, permitting registered members to cast their ballot. It is expected that NRP leader Zevulun Orlev and National Union leader Rabbi Binyamin Elon will compete for the top spot.

MKs Effie Eitam and Aryeh Eldad have announced they do not plan to join the new entity, with Eitan seeking a place in Likud and Eldad announcing he plans to form his own secular nationalistic party.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)