No last-minute mergers as parties submit final Knesset slates for election

Speculation of any further shakeup in Israel's political landscape faded Monday night, as a series of large and small parties submitted their final slates for next month's election, confirming that they will each run alone. Talk of possible mergers had mounted in both the pro- and anti-Benjamin Netanyahu camps in recent days, fueled by a succession of polls that showed neither bloc winning a majority of the Knesset, alongside fears that small parties could fall short of winning office entirely. But with a Tuesday deadline looming for parties to confirm their lists of candidates, several declined to unite, leaving the electoral picture much the same as it has been for weeks. The biggest question mark now concerns the prime minister's own Likud party, which is expected to submit its slate on Tuesday, hours before the deadline. The bloc hoping to unseat the prime minister appears to be all but set in stone, as frontrunner Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party submitted its roster on Monday. So did B'Yachad, the opposition party led by former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, which had announced its list on Sunday. The two other main opposition parties, the hawkish Yisrael Beytenu and left-wing Democrats, also submitted their slates. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Newsletter email address Get it By signing up, you agree to the terms The separate Yashar and B'Yachad submissions ruled out any possibility of the two parties joining. Had they done so, they would have almost certainly been the top vote-getter by a considerable margin. The merger would have also conclusively cemented Eisenkot's status as the opposition bloc's candidate for prime minister — a mantle Bennett has also sought to claim. But there were concerns that the two parties would receive fewer votes together than they would by running separately, a scenario that could help deliver reelection to Netanyahu. Talk of mergers was also punctured in the pro-Netanyahu camp. The far-right Religious Zionism party, which according to polls has long been hovering on the threshold of entering the Knesset, recently announced a merger with far-right ex-lawmaker Moshe Feiglin. But Netanyahu had also pushed for it to merge with the far-right Otzma Yehudit — with which it ran in the 2022 election — or with the new People of Israel party, led by retired general Ofer Winter. Advertisement That effort fell flat, though, when Otzma Yehudit and Winter's party each submitted their own lists on Monday, meaning that the three parties will remain separate. Eisenkot unveils party slate, with ex-Shin Bet chief at No. 2 The Yashar slate submitted by Eisenkot, a former IDF chief of staff, placed former Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen in the second spot, meaning the top two places will be held by senior ex-security officials. Next are former minister Orit Farkash-Hacohen, educator and social entrepreneur Adi Altschuler — whom the party has named as its candidate for education minister — and former religious affairs minister Matan Kahana. They're followed by former Blue and White MK Chili Tropper, who joined Yashar on Sunday. That means that, altogether, four of the top six spots in the party will be from Benny Gantz's Blue and White party. Eisenkot, who used to be Gantz's number-two, left that party last year to found Yashar. Farkash-Hacohen, Kahana and Tropper were also members of Blue and White. Gantz's party has since floundered and is projected to fall short of entering the Knesset. It suffered its latest defection on Monday, as MK Michael Biton posted on Facebook that he wouldn't run with Blue and White and was instead 'examining the possibility of establishing a social, national, traditional party based on the values of Judaism, Zionism, and democracy.' At the same time, former Beit Shemesh mayor Aliza Bloch announced she was joining Gantz. Advertisement Yashar, meanwhile, has emerged in recent months as the election frontrunner and is currently running slightly ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud at around 23-25 seats. Other notable Yashar candidates include former Yesh Atid MK and minister Elazar Stern in 12th place, former Druze general and former head of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Kamil Abu Rukun in 13th, former Shin Bet and Mossad official Devorah Sharifian Bachar in 14th, social activist Alex Rif in 15th, former senior Welfare Ministry official and social policy adviser Inbar Yehezkeli in 16th, and former Kulanu MK Roy Folkman in 17th. The list was submitted on the party's behalf by former head of the Finance Ministry's Budget Division Shaul Meridor, who is in the seventh spot, and Inbar Harush Giti, who led the Defense Ministry's directorate for promoting the recruitment and integration of Haredim in the IDF, placed 11th on the slate. Yashar also announced 11 honorary candidates who will occupy the final spots on its full 120-member slate, though their names were not included in the list formally submitted to the election committee. They include former Hamas hostage Ohad Ben Ami as well as other bereaved families and relatives of hostages, alongside former public officials including economist Manuel Trajtenberg, former minister Dan Meridor, father of Shaul Meridor, and Adina Bar-Shalom, daughter of late Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. Report: Likud will submit Knesset slate near deadline Likud, meanwhile, was expected to submit its Knesset slate only on Tuesday afternoon, hours before the deadline, according to Hebrew media reports. According to Channel 12, Likud's submission has been delayed by disagreements over spots on the list reserved for candidates of Netanyahu's choosing, with some party officials demanding those politicians be pushed lower down. A final decision on the matter will be made at a meeting at 11 a.m., the report said, meaning that the party will be unable to submit its final candidate list before then. Advertisement Likud's internal court ordered Netanyahu to present the list of names by 9 p.m. Monday, but the deadline passed without him doing so. Netanyahu controls eight slots on the party list, as well as an additional spot reserved for Defense Minister Israel Katz. As of Monday evening, Netanyahu has only confirmed three of the eight reserved spots, which he has given to entrepreneur Oren Dobronsky, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, and Likud Central Committee chair Haim Katz. Ben Gvir, Winter submit party slates; Smotrich slams decision Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir's Otzma Yehudit party likewise submitted its 20-member slate for the election, as did Winter's People of Israel party. Ben Gvir heads his party's list, followed by firebrand former Likud MK Tally Gotliv, who recently joined him after a poor showing in the Likud primary. Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf comes next, followed by Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, MK Limor Son Har-Melech and MK Yitzhak Kroizer. Ben Gvir's longtime chief of staff Hanamel Dorfman is placed seventh, followed by party activist Tzachi Eliyahu, Haredi activist Yossi Goldberger and party director-general Itiel Ne'eman. The party has been polling consistently at around seven or eight seats. On Winter's slate, right-wing Arab Israeli activist Yoseph Haddad is No. 2, followed by former Channel 13 journalist Netali Shem Tov and Eran Ben-Ari, the leader of the conservative opposition bloc within the Israel Bar Association. Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum takes the fifth spot, followed by Lali Derai, the mother of slain IDF soldier Staff Sgt. Saadia Derai; financial analyst Ronen Bodner; deputy head of the Samaria Council Davidi Ben Zion; former Israeli diplomat Aviv Ezra; and Sigal Kraunik-Atia, the widow of Kibbutz Be'eri's security coordinator Arik Kraunik, who was killed battling invading terrorists during the Hamas-led onslaught on October 7, 2023. Recent polling has shown People of Israel narrowly clearing the electoral threshold and winning four seats. Advertisement Winter promised to pursue 'a policy of a true right-wing and decisive military victory on all fronts,' alongside integrating the ultra-Orthodox community into the IDF. 'With God's help, we will be the surprise of the election,' he said. The submission made good on Winter's pledge not to combine with another party. In response, Religious Zionism said Smotrich had deliberately kept spots open on his slate in anticipation of 'a necessary and responsible merger' with Winter, but will now consider filling them with other candidates. Smotrich accused Winter of 'gambling with the future of right-wing rule and the State of Israel.' 'A true right-winger doesn't take a chance this time,' he added. Former MK Einat Wilf abandons solo run, joins Hendel One merger did happen on Monday: Reservists party chair Yoaz Hendel announced the addition of former Labor Party lawmaker Einat Wilf to his electoral slate. The announcement came a day after the collapse of Hendel's center-right alliance with Tropper, after Tropper split off to merge with Yashar. Instead, Hendel formed a last-minute alliance with economist Yaron Zelekha. Wilf, who has made a name as a pro-Israel advocate abroad, founded the Oz party last year with the intention to run in this year's election, but did not gain traction. She said of her decision to run under Hendel that she was 'happy to join those who, in the country's most difficult hour, mobilized to defend it.'