According to Maariv columnist Ben Caspit, he has credible information that former Shas leader Eli Yishai will be breaking from Shas and announcing his own party. This announcement will come soon, possibly by Thursday 12 Kislev.
There has been much speculation surrounding Yishai and his future in Shas but the announcement of the firing of two senior ministers by the prime minister has given birth to a new reality. It now appears that new elections will be held soon, sometime in March 2015 and this compels Yishai to act immediately.
Peace-making efforts between Yishai and party leader Aryeh Deri have failed miserably, and the ‘unity’ and ‘achdus’ seen is nothing more than a momentary photo-op.
What has taken a great deal of wind out of Yishai’s sails however are polls showing former Likud Minister Moshe Kahlon and his new party, which will get over ten seats based on polls released on Wednesday, 1 Kislev. Many of these voters would have gone with Yishai but it remains to be seen if they will leave Kahlon if Yishai launches an independent party. Whatever he decides, we can expect to learn of his decision in the coming days.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
It already appears that Kahlon is drawing votes from Shas, and a further split opens the possibility that one (or both) factions will fall under the new threshold (of four seats) meaning the votes won’t count.
Yishai should join with kahlon. they are of the same ancestral background,(unlike Deri) which in israel makes a difference.
For once I agree with #1. A split may require both factions to join other groups to ensure that votes are not wasted. Obvious choices would be for the Yishai faction to run together with Tekuma and for the Deri faction to join UTJ (if UTJ will have them). I don’t know if the split is actually going to happen but if it does it promises to be very interesting.
Yishei join Kahlon & bid farewell to Deri (as many will)