“Benny Gantz is a good person, but his worldview is that we need to play for a tie, and I say his stalemate doctrine endangers Israel,” Naftali Bennett said.

The New Right’s leaders have set their sights on Israel Resilience leader Benny Gantz in recent days, attacking his military record.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett has even gone so far as to say this election about whether he, who reached the rank of major in the IDF, or Gantz, the former IDF chief of staff, will be the next defense minister.

It seems like a bold tactic to claim that you have better defense credentials than the former chief of staff, but Bennett has done that repeatedly of late. Continue reading

Moshe Feiglin, head of Zehut party, brings a controversial outlook to the Israeli election cycle.

Moshe Feiglin, the anti-Oslo Accords activist-turned Likud MK and now leader of Zehut, thinks his party is going to be the surprise of the 2019 elections.

His party commissioned research that shows 19% of voters would consider voting for Zehut, and they come from across the political spectrum. Meanwhile, only 6,000 people have signed up for the party’s primary, which is set to take place on Tuesday and has open registration for all Israeli citizens on the Zehut website. It’s an impressive number for a new party, but not a strong support for a projection that his party could get 22 seats in the next Knesset.

In the same Zehut poll taken of more than 1,000 Israelis, 25% think Zehut won’t pass the threshold. Continue reading

Members tell ‘Post’ that Likud can be more attractive if they abandon cult of personality, go back to being liberal party of the people.

The New Likudniks are angry, but they have hope.

Their anger has lit a fire under them that’s keeping them going through their Kafkaesque legal battle to remain members of the party that they say they want to help.

The group seeks to be a moderating force in the Likud, though they describe it as wanting to bring the Likud back to its roots when it comes to social issues and the rule of the law.

But over the past year and a half, the group has faced one petition after another before the Likud’s court, disqualifying large groups of its members – they claim to have registered over 15,000 to the Likud, with 8,000 currently eligible to vote in the February 5 primary – and its candidates. Continue reading

Shaked has a relatively clean image, and hoped to attract right-of-center voters who were deterred from voting Likud because of corruption allegations against Netanyahu.

For weeks, the news has been teasing a major scandal in the judiciary, but few outside the inner circles of government and media knew just how shocking it would be: Sexual favors in exchange for a judgeship.

Bar Association President Efi Nave, a key suspect in the case, is a powerful figure. He heads an organization with over 59,000 members that influences legislation in the Knesset, and he sits on the Judicial Selection Committee.

He’s also someone very closely associated with Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and her “judicial revolution,” playing an instrumental role in bringing more conservative figures into the Justice Ministry and in the courts. Continue reading

Zehut ad campaign has longtime right-wing agitator spouting slogans such as ‘End the occupation.’

Former Likud MK Moshe Feiglin is probably best known for his far-right activism, going back to the days of the Oslo Accords, but a new ad campaign for his Zehut Party features slogans that read like they could be coming from the Center-Left and even the far-Left.

“End the occupation,” for example, is one of his campaign’s main slogans.

“We have turned into a ridiculous force that does police work in a conquered land,” one billboard reads, ending with the emphasized words: “End the occupation!” Continue reading

The Palestinians, peace talks, and settlements seem to be almost entirely irrelevant to this election season.

Hatnua leader Tzipi Livni talks about negotiations with the Palestinians a lot. It’s become her calling card. And yet, it was jarring to read a press release that her spokesman sent this week, where she talked about “an immediate dialogue with the Palestinian Authority,” saying that “separation [from the Palestinians] is an Israeli interest.”

Livni’s comments – which were so characteristic for her, were still a shock to the system because, well, talks have been so low on the agenda for so long. Continue reading

Sa’ar tells The Post he is ready to return to politics, but also acutely aware of the sacrifices he and his family will have to make on the way.

There are only 27 days left to the Likud primaries – but who’s counting?” former interior and education minister Gideon Sa’ar quipped on Wednesday.

Though Sa’ar is often talked about as an eventual contender for leader of the Likud after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he would not talk about his future plans, responding: “I am a candidate for the list for the 21st Knesset.” Continue reading

There was one Likud MK and minister after another, entering the Eilat resort – some with their families, some alone – walking down the red carpet.

Oren Hazan posing with a poster of his selfie with US President Donald Trump at the Leumiada. Credit: Lahav Harkov

Social Equality Minister Gila Gamliel entered the Club Hotel in Eilat in a swirl of cheers and to her very own theme music, set to the Likud’s legendary jingle.

Gamliel is the undefeated queen of the Leumiada, an annual weekend retreat for Likud members in the southern beach city, winning first place in the event’s mock primary year after year. She pumped hand after hand, took selfies, and even posed with an acrobat who came down from her perch on a ring high above the hotel lobby. Continue reading

There’s a decades-long trend in Israeli politics of new centrist parties popping up and sweeping elections, probably starting with Yigal Yadin’s Democratic Movement for Change in 1977, which helped throw the election to Likud for the first time ever. Since then, there have been others – like Shinui, Kadima and Yesh Atid.

It seems like a large swath of Israelis see themselves as centrists, but then grow disappointed by the parties that purport to represent them and stop voting for them in the next election or two. Continue reading 

An inside look at how their party differs from ‘centrist’ Likud, ‘sectoral’ Bayit Yehudi.

The New Right (Hayemin Hehadash) plans to keep quiet for the next three weeks, granting no interviews as the new party led by Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked prepares its platform. The Jerusalem Post, however, received an inside look at their strategies and positions on Sunday.

One detail that has remained in question since the ministers announced the move last week is who will be first on the list. A party insider confirmed that Bennett will be number one, even though Shaked’s name comes first on the New Right logo. While Shaked is more popular in polls of the general population, Bennett is more popular with voters considering the party. Continue reading