In a meeting between Bayit Yehudi party activists and Ayelet Shaked, the former justice minister announced that she will be announcing her decision regarding her future path within the next two weeks. In a recent address to a legal conference, the former minister did announce “I’ll be back”, dispelling rumors she is leaving politics.

The meeting between Shaked and activists of the party was set before the decision was made to go to elections with the goal of saying “farewell and thanks” from the outgoing justice minister.

The meeting was attended by about 20 party activists and immediately revolved around the events at hand and the continuation of Shaked’s path. Shaked made it clear immediately that she would not talk about her political moves, and the only thing she got out of was the statement that “in the next week or two I will decide”.

The activists explained that they want to see her return to the party, but some participants also told her that not everyone saw it favorably. While there are many who wish to see her come back, well aware of her electoral popularity, the number two man on the list, Betzalel Smotrich, insists she and Naftali Bennet cannot just return and re-assume the leadership of the party after abandoning it to start the New Right party.

The New Right ran in the last election but failed to earn enough votes to enter Knesset. The party’s leader, Naftali Bennet, has already announced the party will run in the upcoming election “with or without Shaked” and he later signaled a willingness to step down from the number one slot to permit Shaked to head the party. All await her decision.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)