The Yisrael Beitenu party chaired by MK Avigdor Lieberman and the Blue & White party headed by MK Benny Gantz signed a surplus vote agreement. This refers to an agreement that surplus votes that are not sufficient to get another seat, are shifted between the parties as per their agreement, so the votes are not wasted.

This means if one votes for Lieberman with the belief s/he is voting for a right-wing party, in essence, the vote may go towards helping Blue & White get an additional seat and topple the Likud and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

When the news of the agreement was publicized, the Likud party did not waste time, condemning Lieberman and the agreement with Blue & White. “Whomever wishes to see Netanyahu as prime minister must vote Likud”, the party’s statement read.

Lieberman insists the surplus vote agreement is “only a technical matter” and that in the previous election, he signed with the New Right party which failed to meet the minimum election threshold to enter Knesset. In 1999 he explains, the surplus votes agreement was signed with Amir Peretz, leading to Yisrael Beitenu gaining another seat.

He explains that he does not wish to lose a seat and therefore, he signs the agreement and it is a technical matter only.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)