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Drama in Jewish Home: Will Union Be Nixed?

January 25, 2015

Jewish Home and Tekuma, which ran on a joint list in the last elections, agreed to do so again in the upcoming elections, but there are rumors that Jewish Home may choose to scuttle the deal at the last minute.

Jewish Home’s Central Committee will convene Monday to ratify the agreement, which reserves five of the first 18 spots in the Knesset list for Tekuma. This was believed to be a done deal last week.

However, it now turns out that the Central Committee may yet vote against the deal. Whether or not this happens depends on how the proposal is presented to the Central Committee. If it is presented as a proposal by Party Chairman Naftali Bennett, all that is required is for 40% of the members to vote in favor for it to pass – and taking into account Bennett’s popularity, it is certain that it will, indeed, pass.

If, however, the proposal is not presented as Bennett’s, opponents need only gather 50% of the vote in order to stymie the union. Since framing the proposal in this way will imply that Bennett is not interested in it, the chances of it being rejected are good.

Spokespeople for the Jewish Home told Arutz Sheva that it has not yet been decided which option to choose in Monday’s vote.

A possible consideration against the union is the fact that Eli Yishai’s party, Ha’am Itanu, is not doing very well in the polls and could fail to pass the threshold for entering the Knesset, thus wasting about 4 Knesset seats that could have gone to the nationalist camp. If Jewish Home rejects Tekuma, Tekuma is likely to join Eli Yishai’s party, and carry it past the threshold – thus benefiting the entire nationalist bloc.

However, a dramatic zig-zag such as this could wreak havoc on Bennett’s image as a man of integrity who can be trusted to stand behind his word.

Minister of Housing, Uri Ariel, who heads Tekuma, told Arutz Sheva Sunday that he is convinced that Bennett will not renege on the deal. “There was a very clear agreement between us and I am sure that Bennett will do whatever needs to be done to abide by it,” he stated. “Of course, we do not interfere in any internal process in the Jewish Home.”

According to the deal between the factions, spots 2, 9, 14 (or 15) and 18 in the joint list are reserved for to Tekuma. The #2 spot is intended for Ariel, the #9 spot for Bezalel Smutrich, the 14th spot for MK Orit Struk and the 18th for MK Zevulun Kalfa.

Tekuma is considered to be the “hardali”, or haredi-religious-Zionist, part of the Jewish Home. The “hardali” stream is seen as more uncompromising in its blend of Torah and nationalistic values, whereas the rest of the Jewish Home MKs, including Chairman Bennett, are often seen as less strict in their religiousness.

Tekuma considered breaking from Jewish Home over a stated religious divide, responding to Jewish Home’s controversial decision to actively campaign for the secular and Druze vote in addition to its traditional religious-Zionist voter base, and warning that the “Torah core” would be silenced in the party. Ariel voted to split off from Jewish Home, but an overwhelming majority of the party’s committee decided to stay united.

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