Some of the ads were funny, most were serious, but all the parties tried to find the Purim costume that would most appeal to the electorate.

The most amusing part of the election cycle came on Tuesday, one day before Purim, when parties perform their spiels – otherwise known as televised campaign ads.

Some of the ads were funny, most were serious, but all the parties tried to find the Purim costume that would most appeal to the electorate.

The Zionist Union’s ad masqueraded as one for eHarmony or another dating site, describing the coupling of party leader Isaac Herzog and No. 2 Tzipi Livni, complete with heartwarming music and mutual compliments. They seemed to be advocating nepotism by playing up their parents’ qualifications – Herzog’s father was president and his grandfather was chief rabbi, and Livni’s dad was a head of operations in the Irgun. Continue reading 

Online election videos aren’t new to Israel, but they seem to have taken over this election’s campaigns.

The election campaign kicked off in December, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired then-finance minister Yair Lapid and justice minister Tzipi Livni, and it didn’t take long for social media to fill up with viral campaign videos. Three months and hundreds of online videos later, the televised election ads that will be aired on television beginning Tuesday seem redundant. Continue reading 

Netanyahu and Herzog’s absence made them the biggest losers, leaving the stage clear for smaller parties.

The biggest losers of Thursday night’s televised debate were two people who were absent: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Zionist Union leader MK Isaac Herzog.

The leaders of eight political parties – Bayit Yehudi’s Naftali Bennett, Yesh Atid’s Yair Lapid, the Joint List’s Aiman Oudeh, Kulanu’s Moshe Kahlon, Shas’s Arye Deri, Yahad’s Eli Yishai, Yisrael Beytenu’s Avigdor Liberman, and Meretz’s Zehava Gal-On – faced off and presented their positions in the Channel 2 debate.

However Herzog refused to participate in a debate without Netanyahu, because he wants to present himself as the only other candidate for prime minister. Netanyahu refused to participate in a debate without Herzog’s No. 2, Tzipi Livni, with whom Herzog has a rotation agreement for the premiership. Continue Reading 

The Bayit Yehudi leader tells the ‘Post’ he’s concerned Netanyahu will leave his party out of the next coalition if it doesn’t pass 12 seats.

Bayit Yehudi chairman Naftali Bennett has a canned answer for when he’s asked which ministry he wants: It depends on how many seats his party gets.

When pushed further, he says that all three senior ministries – defense, finance and foreign – are important, and he has a “clear vision” for what he could do in all of them.

Despite his politically expedient responses, the current economy minister couldn’t hide the fire in his eyes when he talked about defense issues Thursday, in his Tel Aviv office. His passion for and emphasis on security matters was apparent, backing up what sources in his inner circle have been saying for months: Naftali Bennett wants to be the next defense minister. Continue reading 

Zionist Union’s campaign has been, to put it bluntly, a mess. This week, however, the cavalry arrived in the form of advertising guru Reuven Adler.

Weeks after Labor and Hatnua united and jumped to the top of the polls with the joint list riding high after the Labor primary boosted younger and female candidates, the campaign seemed directionless and running adrift. Continue reading 

Bennett takes a break from trying to be the coolest dude in politics after Ohana-induced nosedive in polls and crisis of confidence.

Bayit Yehudi had a bad weekend.

Its poll numbers have been in free-fall since the debacle that took place over two weeks ago, when party leader Naftali Bennett appointed soccer legend Eli Ohana to the party’s list and Ohana dropped out three days later amid vocal disgruntlement from party MKs and members. They hit a nadir on Saturday night, when Channel 1’s poll gave them only 11 seats, a steep drop from a high of 18 – coincidentally from the same pollster, Teleseker – since the election was announced in December.

The 11-seat showing was somewhat of an outlier, as the party averaged 13 seats in last week’s polls, but it enough to drive everyone on the Bayit Yehudi campaign, from MKs to advisers to activists, crazy. Continue reading

Party holds protest for free speech after Central Election Committee accepts Tibi’s petition, orders it not to distribute controversial French magazine.

Banning Yisrael Beytenu from distributing copies of French magazine Charlie Hebdo’s “survivors issue” is a violation of its right to freedom of expression, the party said Thursday.

Yisrael Beytenu plans to appeal to the High Court on Sunday, after Central Election Committee chairman Justice Salim Joubran issued an injunction against them doing so.

The party planned to give out the magazines, because the Steimatzky bookstore chain decided to only sell them online, and not in stores, after MK Masoud Gnaim (UAL) said “the country and the [Steimatzky] chain will be responsible for the results” of selling Charlie Hebdo copies, and that doing so would be crossing a red line as far as Israeli Arabs and their leadership are concerned.

Joubran’s ruling came in response to a petition by MK Ahmed Tibi (Ta’al), who wrote that distributing the magazines violates the law against giving gifts as part of an election campaign, and warned that doing so would likely disturb the peace, because it offends Muslims by mocking their religious symbols.

On Thursday, Yisrael Beytenu opened an outdoor library in front of Independence Hall on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv, which only had one thing to read: Charlie Hebdo. The party allowed passers-by to read copies of the magazine and sign a petition supporting the party’s appeal to the High Court. Continue reading 

Political parties made last-minute tweaks to their lists Thursday – with a few surprises – before the window to submit them to the Central Elections Committee in the Knesset closed in the evening, bringing the total number of parties running in the March 17 vote to 26.

In a surprise move, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chose to appoint former minister and MK Bennie Begin, son of Likud founder and former prime minister Menachem Begin, to the 11th place on the party list. There was an outpouring of praise and support for the move within the Likud. Netanyahu also named terrorism expert Dr. Anat Berko to the 23rd slot.

Likud MKs Ze’ev Elkin, Yariv Levin and Ophir Akunis submitted the party’s list, with Elkin telling Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Salim Joubran: “We have 120 interesting people on our list; I hope they all get in.”

Before the party handed in its list, Levin refused to give the Joint Arab List the requested permission to use the letter “mem” on its voting slip.

The Joint Arab List needed the Likud to acquiesce, because the name on the Likud’s voting slip, Machal, starts with “mem,” and Meretz and the Zionist Union (“Emet”) already agreed. However, Levin said that “unlike Meretz and the Anti-Zionist Union, Likud will not cooperate with a party that includes [Balad MKs] Haneen Zoabi and Jamal Zahalka and the Islamic Movement, and will express total opposition to the Central Elections Committee.” Continue reading 

Pomp and circumstances are generally hard to find in Israeli elections, but the ritual submission of party lists to the Central Elections Committee provided plenty, along with a glimpse at some of the more colorful parties running.
The process began Tuesday night, with parties rushing to stake a place on line.

Twelve were registered to give in their lists, but only nine did on Wednesday: The Zionist Union, Green Leaf, Democratura, Pirates, We Are All Friends Na Nach, Or, Yisrael Beytenu, the Joint Arab List, and Ubezchutan.

Labor Party secretary-general Hilik Bar was first to enter the Central Elections Committee’s headquarters, a conference room in the Knesset. He sat in front of the panel’s chairman, Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran, and its director-general, Orly Ades, along with Knesset House Committee chairman Yariv Levin (Likud), MK Alex Miller (Yisrael Beytenu), and Shas representative Yehuda Avidan, who made snarky comments at nearly every party.

“We are honored to be first,” Bar said, Army Radio reported. “Throughout this election process, we were the most organized and transparent.”

“No campaigning!” Joubran warned.

“I’m glad you internalized the idea of transparent people,” Avidan said, referring to Shas’s campaign, which says the poor are ignored by the government.

Bar pointed out that the Zionist Union list starts with Isaac Herzog and ends with Isaac Navon, and asked for the letters spelling out the Hebrew word for truth (emet) to appear on its voting slips, as is traditional in Labor.

Then, referring to Wednesday’s Likud vote recount, Bar said to Levin: “Good luck. I hope you’ll be able to give in your list by 10 p.m. tomorrow. You’ve been counting votes for a month.” Continue reading 

Labor-Hatnua’s co-candidate for PM Tzipi Livni talks to ‘Post’ about why she believes a 2-state solution is the only way to keep Israel democratic.

MK Tzipi Livni, Labor-Hatnua’s co-candidate for a rotation premiership, is a contender for prime minister for the third time. She has been in the Knesset for over 15 years, and her moves from Likud to Kadima to Hatnua and now, a partnership with Labor, are as well-known as the political positions that went along with them.

Of course, Livni supports a negotiated two-state solution, and sees herself as the right person to negotiate. Of course, Livni has endless criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And of course, it is important to Livni that the Jewish and democratic elements of Israel’s character stay in balance.

However, Livni still had some surprises up her sleeve on her visit to The Jerusalem Post Election Arena, a new online interview series on JPost.com. Despite battling a cold, Livni spoke about US-Israel relations and her party’s chances in the next election, and gave insight into why the word “peace” has been mostly absent from the election campaign this time around. Continue Reading