A7News: Which parties are running - and who is likely to get in?

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Tuesday, Apr. 09 '19, ד' בניסן תשע"ט





HEADLINES:
1. WHICH PARTIES ARE RUNNING - AND WHO IS LIKELY TO GET IN?
2. LIKUD PLANTS 1,300 HIDDEN CAMERAS IN ARAB VOTING BOOTHS
3. SMOTRICH: GANTZ SHOULD BE ASHAMED
4. NETHERLANDS: F-16 MAKES EMERGENCY LANDING- AFTER SHOOTING ITSELF
5. BENNETT: 'ONLY SHAKED AND I WILL GUARD THE LAND'
6. ANALYSIS: WHY BENNY GANTZ IS UNFIT TO BE ISRAEL'S PRIME MINISTER
7. WATCH: THIS MAY BE ISRAEL FIVE YEARS AFTER A PEACE DEAL
8. MK ATTACKED IN JERUSALEM'S OLD CITY


1. WHICH PARTIES ARE RUNNING - AND WHO IS LIKELY TO GET IN?
by David Rosenberg


(This is the second part in a two-part guide on the 2019 Knesset election. Click here for part one)

On Tuesday, some 4.4 million Israeli voters will head to the polls, choosing from forty parties and joint lists running for the 21st Knesset.

Ten to fourteen of the 40 Knesset slates competing in the election are likely to actually pass the 3.25% electoral threshold and enter Israel's parliament, while at least 26 parties are expected to fall short of the projected 144,000-145,000 (3.25%) or so votes needed to cross the threshold.

The 10 parties most likely to enter the 21st Knesset

A quarter of the 40 parties running in Tuesday's election are widely expected to clear the electoral threshold, having been projected to win at least four seats in every pre-election poll conducted over the past 30 days. They include the Blue and White party, the Likud, Labor, Meretz, United Torah Judaism, Shas, the Union of Right-Wing Parties, the New Right, Zehut, and Hadash-Ta'al.
Gantz (left) and Lapid (right)
צילום: שריה דיאמנט
The Blue and White Party

Party Type: Joint list of three separate factions (Israel Resilience, Yesh Atid, Telem)
Alignment: Center (self-declared) to Center-Left
Current number of MKs: 11 (Yesh Atid)
Chairman: Benny Gantz
Polling at: 27 – 32 seats

A joint ticket of the existing Yesh Atid faction and the newly-established Israel Resilience and Telem parties, the Blue and White alliance was formed in February and has presented itself as a centrist alternative to the ruling Likud party.

The joint list is led by former IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz, who chairs the Israel Resilience faction, Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid, former IDF chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi, and former Defense Minister and ex-IDF chief of staff Moshe Yaalon, who heads the Telem faction.

Blue and White's platform emphasizes the security bona fides of its three generals – Gantz, Yaalon, and Ashkenazi – and eschewing the right-left divide, offering itself as a kind of radical centrist alternative.

According to the party's platform, the Blue and White list backs territorial compromise with the Palestinian Authority and "separation from the Palestinians", while calling for maintaining Israeli sovereignty over the whole of Jerusalem, as well as Israeli security control over the Jordan Valley along the border with Jordan.

On social issues and matters of religion-and-state, the Blue and White party endorses a number of key left-wing positions, such as civil marriage - including same-sex marriages – and expanded public transportation on the Sabbath.

The party also vows increased social spending and greater state intervention in the economy to bring down the cost of living, and proposed the appointment of a 'cost of living tsar' to coordinate efforts to bring down the price of housing food, and other necessities.

Since its formation in February, the Blue and White has become the frontrunner for the April election, and in the final pre-election polling, led the Likud by an average of one mandate.
Netanyahu at Likud faction meeting
Flash 90
The Likud

Party Type: Single faction list
Alignment: Center-Right to Right-Wing
Current number of MKs: 30
Chairman: Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu
Polling at: 26 – 31 seats

The Likud, Israel's big-tent conservative party, has governed for 31 of the last 42 years since it first took power in 1977. Originally formed in 1973 as a joint list of nationalist and classical liberal parties, the Likud was formally established as a unified movement in 1988.

The party has long backed the settlement movement in Judea and Samaria, and in December 2017, the party's central committee voted unanimously to back the annexation of "all areas of liberated settlement in Judea and Samaria."

On April 6th, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced that he would pursue the annexation of Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria if reelected as premier.

Fiscally conservative and emphasizing economic growth, the Likud backs additional tax cuts, the reduction of business regulation, and the reform of some government-owned companies.

With a broad base of secular, traditional, and religious voters, the Likud has pledged to protect the Status Quo compromise on issues of religion-and-state, and has backed demands by haredi coalition partners to strengthen enforcement of Sabbath observance in the public sphere.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has led the party for the past 13 years, his second stint as chairman of the Likud.

Avi Gabbay
Yonatan Sindel/Flash90
The Israeli Labor Party

Party Type: Single faction list
Alignment: Center-Left to Left-Wing
Current number of MKs: 19
Chairman: Avi Gabbay
Polling at: 8 – 14 seats

Once dominant in Israeli politics, the Labor party has not controlled the premiership since March 2001, when then Prime Minister Ehud Barak was defeated by the Likud's Ariel Sharon after just one year and eight months in power.

With its roots in the socialist but often hawkish Mapai, Labor has evolved into a progressive-left faction emphasizing the Two-State Solution, the expansion of the welfare state, economic equality, and social liberalism.

While the party managed to win 19 seats in 2015 as part of a joint list with Hatnuah (the union won a total of 24 seats), polls show Labor falling to mid-single digits in the April election.

Like Blue and White, Labor's 2019 platform emphasizes security and separation from the Palestinian Arab population in Judea and Samaria. Labor explicitly endorses the establishment of a Palestinian state, and provides for the possible eviction of large numbers of Israelis living in Judea and Samaria.

On socio-economic issues, the Labor party mirrors the social-democratic parties of the European Left, and increasingly, the Democratic Party in the US. Labor's platform promises to increase social spending, price controls on Israel's natural gas, raising the minimum wage, public transportation on the Sabbath, the legalization of marijuana, and a full embrace of the LGBT agenda, including recognition of gay marriages and equal rights for same-sex couples.

Labor is currently led by former Environmental Protection Minister and ex-Bezeq company executive Avi Gabbay, who defected from the centrist Kulanu party to Labor in 2016.
Bennett and Shaked
Flash 90
The New Right

Party Type: Single faction list
Alignment: Center-Right to Right-Wing
Current number of MKs: 3
Chairman: Education Minister Naftali Bennett
Polling at: 5 – 6 seats

In December 2018, then-Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, and Shuli Mualem broke away from the Jewish Home party to form a new right-wing faction aimed at attracting support from both religious and secular opponents of the Two-State Solution.

The New Right's strongly opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state, favoring instead Israeli sovereignty over large swathes of Judea and Samaria, with expanded autonomy for large Arab population centers in the Palestinian Authority.

In line with Western-style conservative parties, the New Right backs market-based economic reforms and the curtailing of judicial activism by the Supreme Court – what Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked has dubbed the "judicial revolution".

On social issues, the party has called for the preservation of Jewish tradition "without coercion", condemning efforts to promote either secularism or religious observance in the public sphere via legislation. The New Right also backs greater integration of the haredi community in the Israeli "economy, academia, public service, service in the IDF and civilian national service."

Smotrich (left) and Rafi Peretz (right)
צילום: יונתן זינדל, פלאש 90
Union of Right-Wing Parties

Party Type: Joint list of three separate factions
Alignment: Right-Wing, National-Religious
Current number of MKs: 5 (3 Jewish Home, 2 National Union-Tekuma)
Chairman: Rabbi Rafael Peretz
Polling at: 5 – 7 seats

Formed on the eve of the elections for the 21st Knesset, the Union of Right-Wing Parties is a temporary alliance of three small rightist, socially conservative, national-religious factions: the Jewish Home, the National Union, and Otzma Yehudit.

A rebranded version of Israel's National Religious Party (NRP), the Jewish Home – like its predecessor – has advertised itself as the political home for Israel's Religious Zionist community, yet for decades has failed to win a majority of the national-religious vote.

While many Religious Zionist voters have backed the Likud, the Jewish Home has also faced competition from rival national-religious parties, such as the National Union. An amalgamation of smaller rightist factions, the National Union is led by the Tekuma faction, which broke away from the NRP and represents the Hardal, or so-called 'haredi national religious' sub-sector of the Religious Zionist movement.

The Jewish Home and National Union successfully ran together on joint tickets in 2006, 2013, and 2015. This year, however, the two parties brought in a third faction – the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party – for a technical bloc, with plans to run together in the election, then split once they enter the Knesset. Otzma Yehudit, which is led by followers of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, has drawn controversy for its founders' ties to the banned Kach party, which advocated the transfer of Arabs from Israel.

The joint ticket's platform emphasizes its support for maintaining Israel's Jewish character, the sanctity of the Sabbath in the public sphere, traditional family values, support for the Chief Rabbinate, the need to expand Israeli settlement in Judea and Samaria, and the party's opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The three factions are led by Rabbi Rafael 'Rafi' Peretz (Jewish Home), MK Bezalel Smotrich (National Union-Tekuma), and former MK Michael Ben-Ari (Otzma Yehudit).

UTJ MKs Maklev (left), Gafni (center), Litzman (right)
Flash 90
United Torah Judaism

Party Type: Joint list of two separate factions
Alignment: Haredi-Orthodox
Current number of MKs: 6 (3 Agudat Yisrael, 3 Degel)
Chairman: Dep. Health Minister Yaakov Litzman
Polling at: 6 – 8 seats

Since 1992, the Knesset's two Ashkenazi haredi factions, the Hasidic Agudat Yisrael party and the non-Hasidic Degel HaTorah, have run on the joint UTJ list in a long-lasting and relatively stable alliance.

The two factions differ little ideologically, with both backing socially conservative positions and supporting the Status Quo agreement on religion and state.

UTJ supports traditional family values and maintaining the current limitations on business and public transportation on the Sabbath, while opposing efforts by the Reform Movement to gain recognition by the Israeli government.

Protecting draft deferments for full-time yeshiva students and increasing state funding for yeshivas remain two of the core political issues for UTJ.

The two factions which make up the UTJ list adhere to the instructions of their spiritual leaders, which each faction receiving guidance from its own council of rabbis. In keeping with the party's haredi character, no women are permitted to run on the UTJ's Knesset list.

The party chairman is Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman (Agudat Yisrael), a veteran lawmaker born in Germany but raised in New York City. The Degel HaTorah faction is led by Knesset Finance Committee chairman Moshe Gafni, who was first elected to the Knesset 31 years ago.

Aryeh Deri
Emil Salman/Flash 90
Shas

Party Type: Single faction list
Alignment: Haredi-Orthodox
Current number of MKs: 7
Chairman: Interior Minister Aryeh Deri
Polling at: 4 – 6 seats

Along with UTJ, Shas is one of the Knesset's two haredi lists. Founded in 1984 by Rabbi Elazar Menachem Mann Shach and former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, was originally established as an alternative to the Hasidic Agudat Yisrael faction.

Shas quickly drew, however, broad support from across the Sephardic and Mizrachi (Eastern, non-Ashkenazi) communities in Israel, with large numbers of voters who do not identify as strictly Orthodox or haredi.

Nevertheless, Shas' representatives in the Knesset all come from the haredi community, and like UTJ, the party is instructed by a council of rabbis who provide guidance to Shas' MKs. Also like UTJ, Shas does not run any female candidates on its Knesset list.

Ideologically, there is a great deal of overlap between Shas and UTJ, with both parties opposing any state recognition of the Reform Movement, particularly with regards to conversion and recognition of Jewishness based on the Reform Movement's standards. Both factions strongly support traditional family values, and oppose recognition of same-sex marriages, public transportation on the Sabbath, or the operation of businesses during the Sabbath.

Like UTJ, much of Shas' political efforts have centered around protecting the system of open-ended draft deferments for yeshiva students and increasing state funding of yeshivas.

Shas also strongly backing the deportation of illegal immigrants residing in Israel.

The party is led by Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, who made history in 1988 when at the age of 29, he became the youngest minister in Israeli history. Deri headed Shas from 1992 to 1999, but in 2000 was convicted of bribery, and was imprisoned for 22 months. In 2013, Deri returned to the Knesset, and was later reappointed party chairman.

Tamar Zandberg
פלאש 90
Meretz

Party Type: Single faction list
Alignment: Left-Wing
Current number of MKs: 5
Chairwoman: Tamar Zandberg
Polling at: 5 – 8 seats

A self-declared leftist party, Meretz has long viewed itself as the standard-bearer of the Israeli Left and the peace camp.

Running under the full name of Meretz – The Israeli Left, the party is the product of the merger in 1992 of the old socialist Mapam party and the far-left Ratz faction.

Along with strong support for an Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and the establishment of a Palestinian state, Meretz also backs a slew of progressive-left positions, including increase social spending, legalization of marijuana, support for same-sex marriage and full rights for same-sex couples, a "social-democratic economic alternative" to the market-based economy, and "environmental justice". Meretz's economic policies include tax hikes on higher income earners, greater spending on public healthcare and education, and an increase in disabilities payments.

Meretz is led by MK Tamar Zandberg, a former college lecturer-turned left-wing activist.

Ayman Odeh
Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90
Hadash – Ta'al

Party Type: Joint list of two separate factions
Alignment: Arab, Left-Wing
Current number of MKs: 5 (4 Hadash, 1 Ta'al)
Chairman: Ayman Odeh
Polling at: 6 – 9 seats

Two of the four major Israeli-Arab anti-Zionist political parties, Hadash and Ta'al, formed a joint ticket for the 2019 election, after the Joint List ticket of all four factions splintered in January 2019.

Hadash, the predominantly Arab Communist party, backs the establishment of a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria and an Israeli withdrawal from the area; the redefinition of Israel from a Jewish state to a state of all its citizens; an end to Israel's nuclear arsenal; more comprehensive environmental legislation and "environmental justice"; full recognition of all illegal Bedouin communities in southern Israel; the overturning of Israel's Nationality Law and an end to the Law of Return for Jews; and recognizing Israeli Arabs as a protected minority group with a special status under Israeli law.

The party's economic platform includes calls to reverse the trend towards privatization and a return to state control of much of the economy, increases in state payments to parents in the form of monthly child stipends; increasing the minimum wage; and state-funded 'social housing' as a solution to the housing crisis.

The other faction on the list, the Arab nationalist Ta'al movement, calls for the full withdrawal of Israel from all of Judea and Samaria; the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital; and end to Israel's status as a Jewish state; and affirmative action for Israeli Arabs, in particular Israeli Arab women.

Hadash is led by MK Ayman Odeh, who led the Joint List in the 2015 elections. Prior to his entry into the Knesset in 2015, Odeh was a Haifa-based attorney and a member of the Haifa city council.

The Ta'al faction is led by its founder, Ahmed Tibi. A Hebrew University-trained gynecologist, Tibi once served as an advisor to PLO chief Yasser Arafat, before making his debut in Israeli politics, winning a seat in the Knesset in 1999.
Moshe Feiglin
Flash90
Zehut (Identity)

Party Type: Single faction list
Alignment: Libertarian, Right-Wing
Current number of MKs: 0
Chairman: Moshe Feiglin
Polling at: 4 – 6 seats

Founded by former Likud MK and Land of Israel activist Moshe Feiglin, Zehut combine a laissez-faire, libertarian political ideology with nationalist positions on issues of territory and foreign policy.

The unusual combination of support for decriminalization of marijuana and staunchly right-wing views regarding the future of Judea and Samaria have led some to dub Zehut the party of "legalization and annexation".

Zehut has called for the full legalization of marijuana – both medicinal and recreational – and the application of Israeli sovereignty to Judea and Samaria, while offering Palestinian Arabs who declared loyalty to Israel legal residency status, much like the Arabs of eastern Jerusalem.

The party's platform, which was written in large part by libertarian economist Gilad Alper (third on the Zehut Knesset slate), calls for massive reductions in taxes and regulations.

Zehut has also called for a school voucher system, allowing parents greater freedom to choose what school to send their children to.

Other policies on the Zehut platform include: legalizing civil marriages; privatizing Israeli hospitals and large swaths of the public health insurance system; ending state funding of political campaigns; an end to state coercion in matters of religion and state; land privatization; replacement of Israel's progressive tax system with a flat tax; free trade and an end to protective tariffs; increased gun-ownership rights; and an end to US government aid to Israel.

Zehut Chairman Moshe Feiglin served in the Knesset with the Likud from 2013 to 2015. Prior to that, he was known as the leader of the Zo Artzenu (This Is Our Land) movement, which protested the Oslo Accords and establishment of the Palestinian Authority. In the mid-1990s, Feiglin founded the Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) faction of the Likud, with the aim of pushing the party to the right.

The four parties hovering around the electoral threshold

Aside from the ten parties who appear poised to enter the Knesset, four other parties have, according to the final pre-election polls, a realistic chance of clearing the threshold and entering the Knesset.

Mansour Abbas (r)
Hadas Parush/Flash90
United Arab List - Balad

Party Type: Joint list of two separate factions
Alignment: Arab
Current number of MKs: 8
Chairman: Mansour Abbas
Polling at: 0 – 5 seats (passes threshold in 9 of the last 12 polls)

The second major Arab ticket is a joint list of the United Arab List and the Balad party.

Like Hadash and Ta'al, both the UAL and Balad are anti-Zionist factions which support the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and the redefinition of Israel from a Jewish state to a state of all its citizens.

The UAL, however, is less of an ideological movement than the Communist Hadash party, and is more of a sectarian and Islamist party, representing Israel's Bedouin community and the southern wing of the Islamic Movement. Like the haredi parties, UAL has never run a female candidate on its Knesset slate.

The second faction on the ticket, Balad, is by contrast a secular Arab nationalist movement. Balad advocates redefining Israel as a binational state or a state of all its citizens, and has pushed for the granting of special rights to the country's Arab population.

UAL is led by Mansour Abbas, chairman of the joint ticket. Abbas is a senior member of the southern wing of the Islamic Movement. Balad is headed by Mtanes Shehadeh, a Christian Israeli Arab from Nazareth and a political scientist who served as a member of the Arab nationalist High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel.

Moshe Kahlon
Flash 90
Kulanu (All of Us)

Party Type: Single faction list
Alignment: Center to Center-Right
Current number of MKs: 10
Chairman: Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon
Polling at: 0 – 6 seats (passes threshold in 11 of the last 12 polls)

Founded by former Likud MK Moshe Kahlon, Kulanu ran in 2015 as a centrist party, netting 10 seats. The faction has tweaked its image in 2019, however, dubbing itself the "Sane Right" and positioning itself as a center-right faction in between the Likud and the Blue and White party.

Kulanu opposed efforts in the 20th Knesset to curtail the Supreme Court's powers of judicial review, and pushed for softening the Nationality Law, including the removal of provisions which would permit small towns to screen residents to preserve the town's demographic character.

The party has targeted its platform to the Israeli middle class, and made extensive use of former Prime Minister Menachem Begin's image in its campaign material. Kulanu's platform emphasizes the closing of socio-economic gaps, promises to increase the number of housing units substantially, increased access to public housing, and increased social spending.

Kulanu has staked out a more right-wing position on the future of Judea and Samaria, opposing the establishment of a Palestinian state and condemning the Palestinian Authority for "biting the hand that feeds it". Kulanu also backs the deportation of illegal immigrants in Israel, and the rehabilitation of south Tel Aviv.

On social matters, however, Kulanu has adopted progressive-left positions on issues including surrogacy and adoption for same-sex couples, "advancing the transsexual community in Israel", civil marriages, expanding the range of mixed-gender units in the IDF, and actively promoting women in the job market.

Kulanu is led by Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, who has served in the Knesset since 2003. Originally a member of the Likud, Kahlon held a variety of ministerial positions, including Minister of Communications and Minister of Environmental Protection, before breaking away to form Kulanu.

Avigdor Liberman
Hadas Parush/Flash90
Yisrael Beytenu (Israel Is Our Home)

Party Type: Single faction list
Alignment: Center-Right to Right-Wing
Current number of MKs: 5
Chairman: Avidgor Liberman
Polling at: 0 – 5 seats (passes threshold in 8 of the last 12 polls)

Originally established in 1999 as a sectorial party, appealing primarily to recent immigrants from Eastern Europe, Yisrael Beytenu evolved into a secular-right party, offering an alternative to the national-religious parties of the Right like the Jewish Home and National Union.

Yisrael Beytenu's platform emphasizes security, with hawkish positions on defense and Israel's response to terrorism.

The party has called for legislation to make it easier for courts to sentence terrorists convicted of murder to death, and sanctions on the Gaza Strip in response, including an end to money transfers from Qatar.

Yisrael Beytenu has endorsed land-swaps with the Palestinian Authority, with Israel annexing large settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria, while ceding large Arab populations near the Green Line to the PA.

During the previous Knesset term, Yisrael Beytenu opposed efforts by haredi lawmakers to maintain the open ended draft deferments for yeshiva students, and sought to impose some limitations on the deferment program to encourage haredi enlistment.

The party has also backed easing the state-run conversion process for immigrants, and reducing restrictions on public transportation and infrastructure work on the Sabbath.

Avidgor Liberman, who served as Defense Minister from 2016 to November 2018, is the founder and chief of Yisrael Beytenu. An immigrant from the Soviet Union, Liberman became a political activist within the Soviet émigré community before he joined the Likud. After serving as a senior official in Netanyahu's first government, Liberman bolted from the Likud, and later formed Yisrael Beytenu.

Orly Levy Abekasis
צילום: Flash 90
Gesher (Bridge)

Party Type: Single faction list
Alignment: Center, Center-Left
Current number of MKs: 1
Chairwoman: Orly Levy
Polling at: 0 – 4 seats (passes threshold in 1 of the last 12 polls)

One of the new factions formed ahead of the 2019 election, Gesher was established by former Yisrael Beytenu MK Orly Levy, and shares the name of another faction established by Levy's father, David Levy, in the 1990s after he broke away from the Likud.

The new Gesher party's platform endorses final status talks with the Palestinian Authority, but calls for Israel to retain major settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria, and Palestinian recognition of Israel as national home of the Jewish people. The platform emphasizes that there is no "quick solution through an immediate deal", calling instead for efforts to reduce tensions and lay the groundwork for a possible future peace agreement.

On socio-economic issues, Gesher seems to lean towards the left, calling for government intervention to reduce the 'wage gap' between men and women, as well as gaps between Israel's Jewish and Arab populations, and equality of outcomes between demographic groups generally.

The party platform pushes for expanded social welfare spending, universal government-funded education for children ages 0 to 3, and the "rehabilitation" of Israel's public housing programs.

MK Orly Levy is the founder and chairwoman of Gesher. Elected on the Yisrael Beytenu ticket in 2015, she bolted the party in 2016, objecting to its decision to join the Netanyahu government. She is a former model and TV host, and the daughter of ex-Foreign Minister David Levy.

The long-shots
Aside from the 14 parties which polls have shown have a realistic chance of crossing the electoral threshold and winning seats, there are 26 additional parties running for the 21st Knesset. They include:

Tzomet (Junction) - The defunct secular-right party of the 1980s and 1990s was revived by Likud MK Oren Hazan, after he failed to win a realistic spot on the Likud's 2019 Knesset slate. The party has polled at or under 1% - far below the 3.25% electoral threshold required to enter the Knesset.
Magen (Shield) – Founded by Gal Hirsch, a veteran of the Second Lebanon War and former Brigadier General in the IDF who had been considered for chief of Israel police in 2015, the Magen party calls for "Israeli unity", strengthening Israel's law enforcement agencies, greater equality of outcome for minority groups in Israel, expanded support for IDF soldiers, and development of areas outside of central Israel including Judea and Samaria, the Golan, the Negev and Gaza border area, and the Galilee.
Betah - Social Security – The party of 44-year-old Ukrainian immigrant and social media star Semion Grafman, Betah promises to combat bureaucratic overreach and excessive regulations which Grafman say have made life difficult for small business owners. Grafman, a businessman himself, was convicted and imprisoned for one year in the US for tax fraud and money laundering. Aside from reducing business regulations, Betah vows to combat poverty in Israel.
The Bible Bloc – A joint Jewish-Christian party founded by an American-born Israeli settler living in Gush Etzion, the Bible Bloc warns of an imminent Islamic takeover of the United States and a coming global Jihad to exterminate all non-Muslims. Avi Lipkin, the Bible Bloc's founder, has close ties with the Evangelical Christian community in the US. The party advocates for a global Judea-Christian alliance to combat radical Islam. The Bible Bloc also calls for ending "prejudice" against Messianic Jews in Israel. The party's Knesset slate is divided equally between Jews and Christians, and includes a self-identifying Messianic Jew.
Na Nach – A party of Breslov Hasidim from the Na Nach Nachman Meuman movement, Na Nach was founded in 2013 with the goal of spreading the teachings of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, and the founder of the Na Nach movement, Rabbi Yisrael Dov Ber Odesser.
Bnei HaBrith (Members of the Covenant) – A Christian-Arab party founded by Bishara Shilyan, an Arab Christian from Nazareth who has sought to preserve the city's Christian identity in the face of a growing Muslim population. Bnei HaBrith advocates Arab integration into Israeli society, and Shilyan has promoted Arab service in the IDF. The party backs a two-state solution.
The Arab List – Led by former United Arab List MK Muhamad Kanan, The Arab List was established in 2015 in protest of the Joint List, after some Israeli Arab leaders claimed the united Arab ticket ignored the needs of large sectors of the Arab population.
Hope For Change – Another small Arab faction founded in 2015, Hope For Change, calls for greater integration of Israeli Arabs into greater Israeli society, and steps to improve the living conditions of the Bedouin community in southern Israel.
The Pirate Party – Part of the international 'Pirate Party' movement, the Israeli Pirate Party was founded in 2012, and ran in both the 2013 and 2015 elections, netting just 0.05% and 0.02% of the vote. With its official registered party name reading "The Pirates – Led by the Internet Voting Slip Diarrhea", and candidates appearing in pirate costumes, the faction seems to take a light-hearted approach to the electoral process. The Pirates advocate open government and direct democracy, copyright and patent law reform, and "promotion of the pirate sector".

Ahrayut L'Meyasdim (Responsibility to the Founders) – One of several party's promoting the interests of retirees, Ahrayut L'Meyasdim is led by former Tzomet MK Haim Dayan. A second faction, the Senior Citizen's Party also focuses on the concerns of Israeli pensioners.
Social Justice Party – A third faction placing special focus on the needs of the elderly, the Social Justice Party of Gad Haran also calls for increased disabilities benefits.
Kol Yisrael Achim (All of Israel Are Brothers) – Is a joint ticket combining the first Ethiopian-Israeli faction with Peula L'Yisrael, a party representing Sephardic and Mizrachi Jews who fled majority-Muslim countries after the establishment of the State of Israel. Peula L'Yisrael was established to secure compensation for Jewish refugees of Muslim countries for property they were forced to abandon. The ticket is led by Alali Adamso, an Ethiopian immigrant to Israel.
Justice For All – An environmental protection and animal rights party, the party's full registered name is "Justice For All Because The Time Has Come For the Animal, The Human, and The Earth."
Yashar – A party calling for direct democracy and the use of referendums, as well as the use of voting via cell phones by party members to determine their party's position on key issues. The faction, which gained attention this election season for its campaign ads portraying Israeli leaders giving the middle finger, is led by Eran Etzion, a former Deputy National Security Advisor.
Eretz Yisrael Shelanu (Our Land of Israel) – A populist faction led by Rafael Levengrond, the bereaved father of Kim Levengrond-Yehezkel, who was murdered in a terrorist attack in Barkan. Levengrond vowed that if elected he would fight for "second class citizens", who he claims are not represented by either the right or the left. "People mistakenly think this about left and right, that's wrong. There isn't one left or one right, there are 20 kinds of each," Levengrond told Yediot Ahronot. "The left is represented by the rich, and the right is represented by the rich, and they treat citizens like a cow that is there to be milked."
Brit Olam (Eternal Covenant) – Led by Israeli-American businessman and Global Peace Solution founder Ofer Lifschitz, Brit Olam is notable for running just a single candidate – its chairman, despite requiring nearly four seats' worth of votes to enter the Knesset. The party, founded in 2005, aims to improve relations between Israeli Jews and Arabs, backs the two-state solution, and calls for increasing the minimum wage.
Green Economics (Da'am Workers' Party) – A joint Arab-Jewish Marxist party which has called for a "Green New Deal", establishment of a Palestinian state in all of Judea and Samaria, and nationalization of major industries. The party rebranded itself the "Calcala Yeruka" (Green Economics) faction for the 2019 elections, and is led by Yoav Gal Tamir from the WAC-Maan Worker's Advice Center.
Education Party – The Education Party, founded by a group of educators and led by Adir Zeltser, calls for increased spending on public schools and a major reform of the Israeli public school system, including reducing the focus on standardized testing, and enabling teachers to greater freedom in the classroom.
Mehathala (From the Beginning) – A social justice, citizens' rights party led by lobbyist David Erez. The party calls for electoral reform, with a direct system of voting to choose Knesset members, rather than voting for lists; reform of the public healthcare system; a requirement that police investigation every complaint filed by citizens; and criminal justice reform for youth courts.
Pashut Ahava (Simply Love) – Another joint Jewish-Arab party, Simply Love endorses multiculturalism, negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, government action to promote gender equality, and a reduction of income equality.
Zechuoitenu B'Kolenu (Our Rights With Our Vote/Voice) – A worker's rights party, led by Gil Rotter, representing non-unionized workers.
Human Dignity – A liberal party led by Arkadi Fugitz which promotes free market capitalism while pushing for reductions in socio-economic gaps in Israel. The party looks to encourage mass immigration to Israel from Diaspora communities around the world.
Social Leadership – The latest party of perennial Knesset candidate Ilan Meshicha Yan-Zanbar, Social Leadership aims to combat what Yan-Zanbar dubbed the "corruption of the judicial system". The party also promotes strengthening Jewish tradition, much like its predecessor, Moreshet Avot (Tradition of the Fathers).
Me and You – A populist, left-of-center social-democratic party led by Alon Giladi which declares itself the "Party of the Israeli People". Me and You vows to upend what it calls the 'big-money' and 'nationalist government'.
Shavim (Equal) – Founded by attorneys Mirit Entebi and Tali Gottlieb, Shavim's mission statement emphasizes children's rights, with a particular focus on special needs children and their families, along with disabled Israelis. "Shavim represents the disabled and their families; special-needs children, autistics, the mentally retarded, and the challenged."


2. LIKUD PLANTS 1,300 HIDDEN CAMERAS IN ARAB VOTING BOOTHS
by Arutz Sheva Staff

Likud activists placed 1,300 hidden cameras in voting booths in Arab areas, in an attempt to prevent fraud.

According to the Central Elections Committee, hidden cameras may only be used in unusual cases in which fraud is suspected.

"During the last elections, several activists identified improper actions in the Arab community, which harmed the essence of democracy and the purity of the elections," the Likud wrote in pamphlets distributed to its activists.

According to the pamphlet, during the elections held March 17, 2015, 1,100 voting committee members stationed at 958 Arab voting booths to prevent voter fraud and document attempts. At the end of the day, there were 712 reports including 348 eyewitness accounts of attempts to forge ballots. These attempts were blocked by activists standing at the voting booths, the pamphlet explained.

Balad Chairman Jamal Zahalka submitted an urgent complaint to the Central Elections Committee, claiming that the cameras are "illegal and intended to frighten the voting public and deter them from voting and exercising their basic rights."

"We will not give in to the attempts to scare and de-legitimize," the Arab Ra'am-Balad party declared. "We will sit in the next Knesset and represent our voters, even if the Likud and the right do not want us there. Our legitimacy comes from our voters, not from [Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu."


3. SMOTRICH: GANTZ SHOULD BE ASHAMED
by Arutz Sheva Staff

National Union Chairman MK Betzalel Smotrich, number 2 on the United Right list, voted Tuesday morning with his wife Revital and their children at the polling station in the Samaria community of Kedumim.

When he left the polls, Smotrich attacked the heads of "Blue and White" Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, who strongly criticized the possibility that Smotritch would be appointed minister of education.

"Gantz should be ashamed of himself. Are we extremists? Regious Zionism can die on the battlefield but not hold education and justice portfolios?" Smotrich asked. "You were the chief of staff and met the members of religious Zionism in the best elite units of the IDF, fighting and sacrificing their lives. Are not you ashamed to blacken them like that? "

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261594


4. NETHERLANDS: F-16 MAKES EMERGENCY LANDING- AFTER SHOOTING ITSELF
by David Rosenberg

An F-16 fighter jet operated by the Dutch air force was forced to make an emergency landing after it was hit by its own machine gun fire in a training accident.

According to a report by Military Times on Monday, the incident occurred in January, when a Royal Netherlands Air Force-operated F-16 fighter jet was engaged in a training exercise over the Netherlands.

The pilot of the fighter managed to score a direct hit on his own plane after he fired the jet's 20mm M61 Vulcan rotary cannon, a Gatling gun-style weapon mounted on a wide-variety of US-built fighter aircraft.

After opening fire, the plane suffered at least one direct hit, Dutch military officials say, causing "considerable damage", Dutch state media reported.

At least one round cut through the F-16's exterior, and fragments of the 20mm ammunition were even found inside the plane's single engine.

Immediately after opening fire, the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing at Leeuwarden Air Base.

"This is a serious incident," said Wim Bagerbos, the Netherlands Department of Defense inspector general.

"We therefore want to fully investigate what happened and how we would be able to avoid this in future."


5. BENNETT: 'ONLY SHAKED AND I WILL GUARD THE LAND'
by Yoni Kempinski

Education Minister and joint Chairman of the New Right, in an interview with Arutz Sheva less than a day before the opening of the polling stations, talks about preparations and efforts to wake up voters.

"The situation on the right isn't simple: The right-wing bloc stands at 67 seats, but Netanyahu's anguishing over specifically the New Right is liable to hurt us very much. It's not completely clear to me why he marked Ayelet Shaked and me, since it damages the entire bloc," says Bennett, noting that a blow to his party could lead to Ayelet Shaked, the best Justice Minister in the history of the State of Israel, as he puts it, to no longer be Justice Minister.

In Bennett's assessment, the Israeli right is internalizing his efforts and those of Minister Shaked to block the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state, and this is precisely why Netanyahu is focusing on siphoning votes from his party. "It seems he's trying to remove the barrier to a Palestinian state."

Bennett is unimpressed by Netanyahu's promises to impose sovereignty, noting that similar promises and statements were made by him also before previous elections. Bennett expressed concern about the Trump plan, which is expected to hatch immediately after the elections: "The right must wake up, and only Ayelet Shaked and I know how to stop it. When religious Zionism was alone, bulldozers came upon Gush Katif.

"We're not perfect and we're not free of mistakes, but we're good people who want to do good for the people of Israel, and we hope the people of Israel will give us the power. We need to be strong and not on the edge," says Bennett, and on his party's attitude toward religious Zionism he makes clear that 60 percent of his party's voters come from the secular and traditional public, and only 40 percent from religious Zionism. "What came as a surprise to us was that Netanyahu was going after us, maybe because he doesn't want to deal with the Supreme Court and not deal with Hamas as I wanted. Perhaps it's more convenient for him for religious Zionism to be comprised of three seats."

For Bennett, a vote for his party is critical, while the addition of one or two seats to the Likud or other parties is insignificant to the right-wing camp. "Without us, Netanyahu will go with Gantz and Lapid and we'll get a Lapid Defense Minister and a Gantz Defense Minister."

Minister Bennett rejects the Prime Minister's claim in an interview with Arutz Sheva that his position was that various reforms should be carried out in the legal system, but the legal and political constellation does not allow this. "Than's wrong. Netanyahu consistently said many times that he defended the Supreme Court and didn't allow any initiative to happen. This time he did it by giving Kahlon veto power, but Ayelet's no dummy. She's smart and has forged an alliance with the Bar Association and has appointed conservative and much more restrained judges. This time we'll change the whole lot if we have enough seats. We'll change the method of selecting judges and will pass their appointment to elected officials as is customary in the world."

On the phenomenon of voting for Moshe Feiglin, Bennett admits that it's a surprise for him. "Feiglin's a good man, but we're revolutionaries in practice and not in words. 25 years Feiglin's in politics, including in the Knesset, and left no imprint: Look at us, we stopped a Palestinian state, I prevented the release of terrorists, I led in Protective Edge, I lead a revolution in education. Ayelet Shaked revolutionized the judicial system, and dismantled monopolies and cartels. Moshe Feiglin as an interviewee is nice, but we don't have time to indulge in these things. We have to guard our land."

Minister Bennett warns of a reality in which his party will indeed pass the threshold, but won't reach enough seats to meet the challenges posed to his party. Bennett warns of a reality in which Lapid's position in the Justice Ministry will return the Israeli government to going back to destruction and uprooting.

On the process of establishing his party, Bennett says the right-wing bloc was saved because seats on the right which remained below the blocking threshold wen to the Union of Right-Wing Parties, while one seat from Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz came to his own party.

"We must vote New Right to save the Land of Israel. It's no joke. Otherwise Netanyahu will go to the places he was already in. He voted for the disengagement, he handed over Hevron, he froze all construction in Judea and Samaria with Ehud Barak beside him, and there's no difference between Barak and Gantz," he said.

Bennett mentions that in 2013, Netanyahu called him last, after the results of the elections were announced, as well as in 2015. This is in contrast to Netanyahu's own words. "There is a limit to how much the public can be a sucker, how many times you can fall in the same trap. He'll be prime minister, that's already closed, but what will he do during the term? Only me and Ayelet Shaked. There's no-one else to stop it. I ask you to give your vote to letter נ, to the New Right, to preserve the Land of Israel, the people of Israel and the Torah of Israel, but in the proper way."


6. ANALYSIS: WHY BENNY GANTZ IS UNFIT TO BE ISRAEL'S PRIME MINISTER
by Yochanan Visser

Blue and White supporters, hopeful for the premiership of Israel Benny Gantz, raised eyebrows last week when he compared Premier Binyamin Netanyahu to Turkish dictator Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"What we do see is a phenomenon reminiscent of Turkey, where Erdogan is protecting himself from investigations and from other efforts aimed at preventing corruption," Gantz told Times of Israel founder and editor-in-chief David Horovitz.

"You really fear the State of Israel could become like Turkey?" Horovitz asked Gantz.

"Yes, and we are headed there. I am very worried about it," Gantz answered without blinking an eye.

Gantz then seemed to be backtracking on his outrageous accusation by pointing to Jewish democratic history and the tradition of open debate which started back in pre-Talmudic times.

The Blue and White leader, nevertheless, doubled down on his claim that Netanyahu was turning Israel into a second Turkey, the country where the Kurdish minority is brutally oppressed, journalists and academics are jailed by the droves and where Erdogan has transformed his country into the second Islamic Republic.

"What did Erdogan do? He made sure that you can't investigate him, and you can't put him on trial, and not his family either. You are going to get the Israeli version of the Turkish system. It won't be the same, it will be something like it. That's what will happen here," Gantz warned.

Asked again if he really thinks Israel's future as a democratic country is at stake if Netanyahu is re-elected, Gantz pointed to ministers in Netanyahu's cabinet and the Prime Minister himself who are, according to Gantz, undermining Israel's democratic character by attacking state institutions.

It wasn't the first time Gantz didn't make good on his promise, repeated during the same interview, that he would be a "positive alternative" to the current leadership and would refrain from mudslinging and would keep "the high ground" in his campaign.

After launching his Israel Resilience Party last February, Gantz let loose a blistering below-the-belt attack on Netanyahu, who he described as a US-trained fake who spent his time learning flawless English and attending cocktail parties in the US while he, Gantz, was risking his life in trenches with IDF soldiers.

Netanyahu condemned the attack as "shameful", and pointed to his participation in daring IDF operations as a member of the Sayeret Matkal elite combat unit of the Israel Defense Forces and the injuries he suffered during battles with Israel's enemies.

To understand how wrong Gantz was when he compared Netanyahu to Erdogan one only has to look at Erdogan's political track record.

Erdogan slowly transformed secular and democratic Turkey into an Islamist country where freedom of press and speech are a thing of the past. The Turkish strongman also interferes in the internal affairs of other countries, including Israel where he is trying to turn Jerusalem into a bastion of Islamists and aids terrorist groups hell-bent on the destruction of the Jewish state.

The Turkish dictator used a botched coup, which some say was a false flag operation, to start a massive crackdown on political opponents which is continuing to this day and even goes as far as chasing down and intimidating opponents of his regime in Western countries.

The best example of this was the harassment of US citizens in Washington June 2017, when Erdogan's security detail kicked and punched demonstrators near the Turkish embassy in Washington after he returned from a disappointing meeting with US President Donald Trump.

Erdogan also betrayed his allies in NATO when he purchased the Russian S-400 missile shield and threatened to lay siege on the Incirlik NATO base after the botched coup, citing CIA involvement in the attempt to overthrow his regime.

The current Muslim Brotherhood chief is responsible for the oppression of Christians in Turkey and is even threatening foreign journalists who dare to expose his crimes against humanity and his expansionist policies in the Middle East, as I can testify.

In 2016, six years after the Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish lawyer affiliated with the Erdogan regime sent a threatening letter to my former employer The Western Journal in Arizona, USA in which the regime demanded I apologize for and correct a report of the raid on the Turkish ship by Israeli naval commandos.

My 'crime' was I had written that Turks belonging to the IHH organization in Turkey, an Islamist organization affiliated with Erdogan's AKP party, had initiated the violence on the Mavi Marmara by using iron rods and knives to attack Israeli soldiers who boarded the vessel.

I later was informed that it was dangerous for me to board a plane to Istanbul because of the risk that the Turkish regime would arrest me.

If we now take a look at Gantz' accusation that Netanyahu is turning Israel into a new Turkey because he and other ministers in his cabinet are 'attacking' state institutions and media or are defending themselves against corruption charges, we will see how dead wrong the Blue and White leader was and how he showed he hasn't a clue about what's going on in Turkey.

As Ruthie Blum pointed out in a column for The Jerusalem Post, the 'dangerous trend' Gantz signaled in Israeli politics "is actually a positive progression in a system based on the will of the people, not the whim of despots like Erdogan."

Israelis enjoy free speech but don't want their tax money spend on art which portrays them as criminals Blum wrote what she did in reference to Culture Minister Miri Regev's policy of halting state-funding of artists or art projects which distort the truth about Israeli society or the Israeli army.

Israelis also support efforts by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked to curb the power of a Supreme Court which intervenes in political matters or overturns democratic decisions taken by the government and the Knesset.

As for Netanyahu's alleged attempts to crack down on the freedom of the press in Israel, law experts have pointed out that the charges brought against Netanyahu by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit endanger Israeli democracy, not the PM's attempts to get more favorable coverage from staunchly anti-Netanyahu media outlets.

Professor Alan Dershowitz warned that these charges would open a Pandora\s box of horribles since every government official who seeks more positive coverage by the press and then did something which would help the media would become subject to police investigation.

Gantz has said that Israel deserves a leader who is more "statesmanlike and serious". Someone who tries "to maintain the high ground as far as possible"

The former IDF Chief of Staff's interview with The Times of Israel made clear he has a lot to learn before he is able to become that statesman and obviously cannot compete with the man he wants to replace as the Prime Minister of Israel.

After all, even Gantz admitted during the same interview Netanyahu has done "fine things" for Israel.


7. WATCH: THIS MAY BE ISRAEL FIVE YEARS AFTER A PEACE DEAL
by Arutz Sheva Staff

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261540

A new pre-election video released by the Zionist organization Im Tirtzu depicts a simulated news broadcast several years in the future in which Israel is suffering from an array of security issues due to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

In the video, the presenter Maayan Adam – a TV presenter on Channel 12 – reports on rockets and incendiary balloons beings fired on Ben-Gurion Airport, the closure of Highway 6 due to terror riots, and the closure of the Western Wall for Jews.

Rotem Sela, a left-wing Israeli model, is presented as emigrating from Israel after a rocket landed near her home.

She is presented as explaining her emigration with a social media post stating that, "We didn't do enough to make Palestinians feel that we are a country of all its citizens."

At the video's conclusion, Adam states: "This is the news that we might be seeing in the near future if we don't vote in the upcoming elections for parties whose DNA is against dismantling Jewish communities and dividing Jerusalem."



8. MK ATTACKED IN JERUSALEM'S OLD CITY
by Arutz Sheva Staff

Tzomet party leader MK Oren Hazan arrived Monday for a tour of the Old City on his way to the Western Wall. During the tour, MK Hazan was attacked and harassed by a number of Arabs. Security forces arrested some of the attackers.

MK Hazan said: "I came on a tour alone so as not to cause a stir, but the Arabs in the Old City were still bothered, because they want our country and simply want to murder us. It does not make sense that Jews cannot move freely and confidently in the Land of Israel. This is the State of Israel and this is our land. If an MK in the State of Israel can be attacked by thugs, what will happen [to the masses?]"

"It's important to understand - the terrorists understand only power and fear, and when they see fear, they exploit it against us. We must ensure that Jews can safely travel around the country," Hazan added.

Hazan stressed, "I was not afraid and did not run away with the intention of conveying the message that Jews should not be afraid anywhere in the Land of Israel, but I acted responsibly, so as not to bring the forces into a complicated situation and to prevent a conflagration."

"I call upon the security forces to hold the attackers to account and restore order, and also call upon the prime minister and the government ... to allow construction in Jerusalem and to state, not through slogans but unequivocally, that Greater Israel belongs to the people of Israel and Jerusalem is our eternal capital. Of course I will not stop fighting for the people of Israel, the Land of Israel, the Torah of Israel and our heroic soldiers and the Tzomet Party under my leadership. I will continue to [fight against] all the terrorists and all the leftists who want to hand over the land to all those who support terrorism."