While polls signal the Bayit Yehudi party is likely to gain seats in the next election, all is not well for Naftali Bennett. Bennett’s insistence to secure the party’s top positions may lead to a split with Ichud Leumi. The conflict between Bennett and his number two man Housing Minister Uri Ariel appears to be escalating. If Ichud Leumi (Tekuma) splits from Bayit Yehudi, it means the Ichud Leumi faction will break away. This includes Ariel, Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan, MK Orit Struk and MK Zevulun Kalfa.
The main reason for the split appears to be Bennett’s refusal to guarantee positions on the party lineup for Ichud Leumi members as was the case in the last election. Bennett is calling for a merger of the parties and in return he is willing to guarantee Ariel the second slot, which he holds now. The other Tekuma MKs however will have to run for their positions along with the others.
In an interview with the dati leumi Srugim website, Struk explains the Ichud Leumi faction is not afraid of running independently, confident they have sufficient support among voters.
Ariel rejects any changes in the current agreement. He has announced that if the dati leumi party splits it will be Bennett’s fault but he will not agree to Bennett’s terms. Bennett supporters view the situation somewhat differently. They accuse Ariel of being the one who will shoulder the responsibility for breaking up the party, not Bennett. Bennett blames Ariel, telling him that they will receive enough seats in elections to demand the defense portfolio and if he leaves the party, this will not be so and he will be to blame.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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3 Responses
As long as both sides of the split get at least four seats, splitting isn’t a big problem. But if one faction falls below the new threshold, their votes are wasted.
At present, the split is unlikely as Tekuma is not likely to get enough votes to get into the Knesset by itself. Should Sha”s finally split and should Tekuma run together with the Yishai faction the united party will certainly make it into the Knesset – but that’s a lot of ‘ifs’. And, should that happen, I’m not sure that Bennett won’t be pleased. True, he’d probably be sorry to see harav Ben-Dahan go but I doubt that he would miss the other three Tekuma MKs. And while Habayit Hayehudi would lose the Tekuma voters it would also become more attractive to other voters who are put off by the Tekuma faction. But at present this is all the merest speculation. For better or for worse, at this moment Tekuma has no real option other that to run with Habayit Hayehudi.
If Tekuma splits then Bayit Yehudi ain’t so YEHUDI.