(L-R) Avi Maoz, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Bezalel Smotrich
The big news in the
dati-leumi camp in Israel this week is that for the first time in four decades, only one political party will be exclusively representing the concerns of the Religious-Zionist community in the upcoming March 23 elections: the HaTzionut HaDatit party led by Bezalel Smotrich, along with a technical bloc composed of the Otzma HaYehudit and Noam parties.
In a surprise development Thursday night â just hours before the Knesset Election Committeeâs party-list submission deadline â Bayit Yehudi (the Jewish Home party) dropped out of the race after unity negotiations with Smotrich stalled. Hagit Moshe, the newly-elected head of Bayit Yehudi, accused Smotrich of making impossible demands and working behind her back to first close a deal with Otzma Yehudit.