Deadline for Israeli party registration looms this week
Parties have until Thursday night to negotiate over mergers
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The deadline for Israeli political parties to register their electoral lists is looming Thursday night, forcing decisions from many smaller factions that have not been polling well. Here’s a guide on what to look out for this week as the February 4 deadline approaches.
In and out: Former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon announced today that he will drop out of the race for the Knesset, pulling his Telem faction from contention, after polls showed him struggling to gain traction. Former Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn, who left Blue and White to take the number two slot in Huldai’s The Israelis Party a month ago, announced yesterday he is exiting politics and will not run in the upcoming election after all. The move renewed calls for Huldai to drop out of the election, especially as most recent polls show he will not cross
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In a statement, Ya alon said the best interest of Israel always came before his personal gains, and that he felt that the current fight is over the very soul of Israel and Israeli society.
But in the current political circumstances, he added, his Telem party will not run. I call everyone to take part in the election, he concluded, warning not to vote for those who would forsake the hope for change in return for sitting beside an indicted man. Give your vote to a leadership that is not corrupt.
Ya alon, a former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff as well, ran for three election campaigns with Benny Gantz s Kahol Lavan, before leaving the party after Gantz joined a coalition with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which Ya alon refused to do.
Former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon. Photo: Mueller / MSC via Wikimedia Commons.
JNS.org – Former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has decided to run separately from Yesh Atid in the next election, and his Telem Party will attempt an independent bid, according to multiple media reports on Saturday.
Telem and Yesh Atid were original members of Blue and White, but broke with it when leader Benny Gantz decided to join Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Yesh Atid chairman and opposition leader Yair Lapid confirmed that Ya’alon would not be running with his party, tweeting: “I value and respect [him] very much and wish him luck.”