Right-wing merger in limbo
Will National Religious Party merge with National Union to present united front in next elections? NRP leader not sure yet
NRP Chairman Zevulun Orlev told Ynet the proposal is "a working arrangement only. There would not be any new tidings here for religious Zionism should such a (joint) list come into existence."
Meanwhile, the NRP chairman is spearheading a move to dissolve the Knesset on Wednesday and may have the support of Labor.
Speaking to Ynet, Orlev said: "A joint list with the National Union party may diminish the power of religious Zionism in the Knesset. A unification may be accepted as a comfortable working arrangement for Knesset Members. The NRP aspires for a wide list of religious Zionist candidates with common stands on education, Jewish identity, and society. Such a list can be attractive for national religious voters who are currently voting for Likud and Shas. New forces must be injected which will reflect the centrality of religious Zionism."
Orlev added: "If they intend for us to become a branch of the National Union in this merger, they are making a big mistake."
He also dismissed polls presented by the National Union showing that a merger would significantly increase the number of mandates for the two parties. "Those polls have no basis in reality. According to the survey, 41 percent of Shas voters are supposed to join the new joint list and 41 percent of Degel HaTorah ultra-Orthodox voters would abandon their parties. These results show that the polls are not serious," he said.
Orlev was not particularly optimistic about the merger, saying, "Until members of the National Union understand that they need to change their priorities, which are based only on the political ticket, and until they stop viewing the party list as means for survival for their Knesset Members, a joint list will not be set up."
National Union: Splitting of seats sews division
While attempting to merge with the NRP, the three factions within the National Union – Moledet (Homeland), Tkuma (Revival), and Tzionut Datit (Religious Zionism) prepared to divide Knesset seats along faction lines.
Here too, as expected, negotiations were threatened by failure, and MK Aryeh Eldad has already issued a threat to resign. According to the division of seats, his faction, Moledet, should receive the first and sixth place in the party's Knesset list.
Eldad refuses to be pushed to sixth spot, and the first place will apparently be given to Benny Alon.
"I won't be in sixth place in the National Union's list," Eldad told colleagues during a faction meeting on Sunday.
