Eli Yishai’s Yachad – Ha’am Itanu joint list with Otzma Yehudit is on the edge of the recently raised threshold percentage, with Channel 1‘s pollster Stella Karayov saying, as of midnight, that it is entering the Knesset. Channel 10 has a similar prediction, as does Channel 20ץ
MK Yoni Chetboun, who is number two on the list, said after the initial results that he is certain that the party will make it into the Knesset.
“Tonight we will go to the Kotel (Western Wall) and we will thank G-d,” said Chetboun.
The party’s fate is seen as being a determining factor in Likud’s ability to gain a 61 mandate majority in forming a right-wing coalition. The exit polls reportedly don’t include the votes of IDF soldiers, meaning there is still hope for Yachad despite the polls.
Dudi Shwamenfeld, number seven on the Yachad list, told Arutz Sheva “we aren’t a party of polls. We said ‘no’ to many things but ‘yes’ to one thing – yes to the unity of Israel.”
Shwamenfeld said the party would wait until the actual results are counted up in the morning, when he is confident it will be found that the party made it in.
Before polls closed at 10 p.m., Otzma Yehudit candidate Baruch Marzel, who is number four on the list, told Arutz Sheva that the results could be a matter of a few thousand votes.
“We are in battles against people trying to steal votes from us,” said Marzel, noting the arrests of several Shas activists who tried to steal Yachad voting slips. “With G-d’s help, I hope that in the last push we will pass (the threshold), but every vote can determine it.”
“Throughout the day there were problems with voting slips being hidden and harassment and violent acts; I hope with G-d’s help that we will pass the bar,” concluded Marzel.
Yachad charged that Shas activists physically forced inspectors from the party out of voting stations, aside from stealing slips. Likewise, the party accused Shas of setting up a fictitious party list with similar letters to Yachad so as to confuse voters and steal votes.